Unbreakable Bond
by ravenbard
Summary: Alice is plagued by a vision that will change her life and that of a certain beautiful brunette.
1. Not An Ordinary Day

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, obviously. I'm just borrowing them for my own personal amusement so please don't sue me. It'll be a lose, lose situation for I have nothing of value.

**Author's Notes**: This is somewhat of an AU but the Cullens do live in Forks and the Cullen kids do go to school but in my story it's currently the summer holidays. Emmett and Rosalie are together as are Emse and Carlisle. However, Jasper and Alice aren't; I'd decided to do away with the whole "they're together but when Bella comes into their lives, it becomes a love triangle struggle" thing. It'll be angst overload if I go down that route. BTW, this story is really going to be angst ridden, just a warning. Oh and this story depicts a loving relationship between two women so if that makes you uncomfortable, well frankly honey, you've taken a seriously wrong turn.

**Chapter 1 – Not An Ordinary Day**

A sickening thud reverberated throughout the Cullen house as Alice, locked inside a vision, tripped on the stairs and toppled down. Her body hit the floor with a crash that resounded through every passageway and room, sending every present vampire into a state of paralysis.

Edward was nearest to his sister; he could only stare at Alice's convulsing body in utmost horror before instincts kicked in. Pushing back from behind the piano, he blatantly ignored the sound of it crashing into the wall as he raced toward the pixie vampire, his movements all but a blur. As he dropped to his knees in front of Alice, a low keening was to be heard from upstairs.

"Edward?" Esme had emerged from the kitchen, a mangled and twisted pot still dangling from slender fingers. She fixed her eyes upon the scene in front of her, concern marring the gold of her eyes.

Edward pulled Alice into his arms, uncaring of just how her thrashing limbs were making thunderous cracks as they collided with his face and chest. "See to Jasper, Esme," Edward rattled off hurriedly as he fought to restrain his sister. "He can feel her pain."

The motherly vampire was already blurring up the stairs, the mangled pot long forgotten as it lay forlornly on the ground. She shouldered her way into Jasper's room, gasping unnecessarily as she found the blonde haired vampire on his knees, hands clutching either side of his head.

"Jasper, honey," Esme soothed as she dropped down beside him, wrapping a loving arm around his shaking shoulders. "Jasper?"

Jasper whirled around, fixing agonized eyes onto Esme. "So much pain," he choked out even as he tugged wildly at his blonde locks. "Make it stop!" Another furious tug on his hair.

Esme wrapped her other arm around him and pulled him to her, shielding him, as only a mother knew how. With love.

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Downstairs, Alice continued to seize, unaware of anything but the terrifying vision that had consumed her entire being. She was awash in darkness; it seeped into her pores, tendrils of it curling around her, mocking her. Pain accompanied it, shooting down her veins, flaring her nerves with flaming hot pokers. She wanted it to stop. But there was nobody to help her.

"Alice, snap out of it. Alice, please!" A plea torn desperately out of Edward's mouth. He clutched at the pixie vampire's shoulders and shook her. "Alice!"

Maybe it was the sheer desperation that painted Edward's voice. Or the painful way he gripped her shoulders as he helplessly tried to console his sister. Either way, Alice's thrashing began to cease, her arms and legs falling limply against Edward even as her head lolled back.

Edward heaved a sigh of relief. He jostled Alice's head to lie against his shoulder and pushed back a few messy strands of onyx black hair. "Alice?" He inquired softly, even as he began to rock her gently.

Alice frowned, smacking her lips. She felt unusually weak, as if there were barely an ounce of energy left in her. She burrowed into the scent of her brother, seeking comfort and felt the waves of relief wash over her as Edward tightened his hold. "Bella..." she murmured.

Edward glanced down, eyebrow arched. "Bella?" he echoed.

Alice looked up into concerned honey eyes. "Bella," she repeated.

"Who is Bella, sweetheart?"

Esme had made her way downstairs with Jasper behind her. Both situated themselves around Alice and Edward. Esme reached over to pull Alice into her arms and cradling her child, she ran a quick inspective gaze over the petite vampire, checking for injuries that she knew were nonexistent. But it never hurt to look.

"Alice?" Jasper this time. His penetrating gaze locked onto hers. "Alice, you were in so much pain." The blonde involuntarily flinched as he recalled the feeling just scant moments ago. "Did you have a vision of this...Bella?"

Alice began sobbing, her eyes filling with venom soaked tears that would never fall. She buried her head into the crook of Esme's neck. "Someone's going to hurt her. Someone's hurting her," she whimpered.

"When, Alice?" Edward demanded even as he began scanning his surroundings. "Where?"

Alice shrugged, reaching up to yank at her hair in frustration. "I don't know. I don't know!" She furrowed her brows as she tried to remember. "All I saw was darkness. It was everywhere. And the pain..." She shuddered.

"Shh," Esme murmured. She pulled Alice closer still before turning to address the boys. "Call everybody home." Her tone brooked no arguments.

Edward and Jasper nodded simultaneously. However, before they could begin to rise to their feet, the unmistakable smell of fresh human blood began to saturate the air.

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TBC

**Author's Notes 2**: Well that's the first chapter. Continue or not to continue? Comments, critiques and apple cores are all welcome.


	2. Family Reunion And A Guest

**A/N** - There are some graphic descriptions regarding injuries in this chapter; I apologize if it offends and or makes anybody queasy.

**Chapter 2 – Family Reunion And A "Guest"**

Jasper hissed, his golden hued eyes rapidly draining to a hollow black. He backed himself against the wall, gripping the side so tightly he made a dent. "Alice's vision just made its grand debut," the blonde spat out, his grip tightening against the wall as he frantically tried to overcome the cloud of bloodlust crawling over his senses. Bits of rubble rained down from Jasper's tightly clenched fist, dusting the carpet in a fine powdery white.

"Go for a walk, Jasper," Esme ordered sharply. She took in her son's shaking figure, the way the muscles in his jaw jumped in agitation. Jasper was one sniff away from going berserk and they already had enough on their hands. "_Now_," Esme growled.

With seeming difficulty, Jasper peeled himself away, his entire posture stiff. He took one look at his mother before blurring out through the kitchen door.

Esme sighed, instantly regretting the movement as the stench of blood crept between slightly open lips to dance a teasing tune on her taste buds. The motherly vampire clamped her mouth shut and placed her hand over both her mouth and nose. "I'm going to go call Carlisle." She gingerly unwrapped her arms from around Alice and began to ascend the stairs, mentally sighing in relief as the smell thinned. "Don't do anything rash." She pinned her two children with "the look", one that demanded obedience. "Am I clear?"

Alice and Edward nodded and watched as Esme flew up the stairs to make the call. Alice stared fearfully at the front door; it was where the smell of blood seemed to be the strongest but try as she might, the pixie vampire could get no answer from her visions.

Edward followed Alice's gaze and shook his head, puzzled. "I don't think anyone's on the porch, Alice." He climbed to his feet and cautiously made his way to the door, gritting his teeth in anticipation.

Almost in slow motion, Alice watched as Edward's hand twisted the knob, the door creaking in protest slightly as it swung open on its hinges. Her sigh of relief was felt by her brother as the open door revealed nothing but the scenery of the forest, kissed in hues of orange and red by the setting sun. "Thank gods," she muttered, leaning against the stairs. "But where is the smell coming from?"

"It's coming from the forest," Edward replied tersely. "There's a strong wind blowing in this direction, it's carrying the scent." He scanned worried honeyed eyes across the span of trees. "There must be a lot of it for the scent to be so strong." He tossed a glance at Alice over his shoulder, knowing this bit of news would not assure her in the least.

Alice winced but said nothing, only looking up upon Esme's soft footsteps on the stairs. "Carlisle's on his way," Esme said softly even though she knew perfectly well that Edward and Alice had heard her conversation with the doctor. She reached Alice and wordlessly held out a hand, smiling softly as Alice rose and leaned into her side. Addressing Edward, she said, "Can you pinpoint the location of the smell?"

Edward shook his head. "As strong as it may be, the other forest scents make it hard to know from here." He glanced uneasily at the trees again. "We'll have to go in."

Esme sighed, fearing this. She did not want to know what had become of this Bella for her blood to be so potent in the air. The screeching of car tires had her bounding toward the door, however. "Carlisle," she breathed out, relief flushing through her. She resisted from throwing herself into her husband's arms as Carlisle made her way up the steps. He solved her dilemma by pulling her into his arms. "Carlisle," she whispered into his shirt.

He smoothed a hand down her back. "Shh." He turned to Alice. "Can you see where this Bella is?"

Alice shook her head, her face wrinkling in misery. "I'm getting nothing, Carlisle, it's almost as if something's blocking me."

Carlisle opened his mouth to respond but was drowned out by a roar that shook the leaves on the trees. It was a well familiar roar; only Emmett could make a sound akin to a wounded angry grizzly. The four Cullens turned to see Emmett and Rosalie bursting through the trees, a curious bundle in cradled in Emmett's arms.

"CARLISLE!" Emmett's eyes were coal black and his arms shook as he fought to control his bloodlust.

The stench of blood was suddenly heavy in the air, curling around each Cullen's throat like noose. Everyone but Alice and Carlisle instinctively held their breath and tensed their muscles. "Give her to me, Emmett, then take everyone and go hunt." His eyes trailed the line of blood that stretched from the forest floor to the front door. That was a lot of blood, how was this girl even alive? He blurred up the stairs and pushed into his study. Placing Bella gently on the gurney he kept, he ran a critical eye over her injuries, barely resisting a growl as he saw bite marks all down her arms. Someone had been feeding off her but there was no trace of venom in her veins. Her wrists were circled with rope burns, the skin an angry red. Her knuckles were tattooed in blotches of blue and purple, fingers bent in directions that screamed dislocation. Carlisle struggle to maintain his calm demeanor; if her arms bore this many injuries what else was waiting for him?

A vicious head wound bled freely, the wound's lips puffy and red as it spat out rivulets of red ruby drops. A long and deep gash ran from Bella's ear to her bottom lip, also bleeding freely. Her lips were split and one eye was swollen shut, the skin dusted with colors of purple and green. Her neck bore an interesting pattern of finger shaped bruises, an indication that she had been choked and strangled by a pair of vampire strong hands. Moving gentle fingers down Bella's torso, he discovered broken and cracked ribs, along with severe knife wounds that all glittered wetly as blood pumped out of the broken skin. Carlisle sighed as he examined between Bella's legs, dreading what damage he was going to find. Surprisingly, the girl had not been raped and for that he sent a silent prayer of thanks. Bella's legs were also shockingly untouched. Except for the smatterings of bruises and a broken ankle, all the more severe wounds remained from the torso up.

The wounds Carlisle had accounted for still did not explain the amount of blood that was pooling onto the gurney and with a sinking feeling of dread, Carlisle turned Bella onto her side, stifling a gasp of horror as the source of leaking blood make itself known. Bella's back was a crisscross of cuts, obviously made by a whip. Her back was more akin to grinded meat for muscle and even peeks of Bella's spine could be seen among the mess of blood and flesh. For the first time in decades, Carlisle wished desperately for the ability to vomit; he knew Bella was in bad shape when Emmett brought her in but he was unprepared for the severity of her wounds. When he found out who did this...

"Bella…"

Carlisle whirled around, automatically putting his body between Bella's and Alice, who lingered in the doorway. "Get out of here, Alice," Carlisle gritted out. His nerves were beyond frayed and he fought hard not to yell at the pixie vampire. "The smell of blood…"

"It doesn't affect me," Alice said softly. "I'm not thirsty." To prove her point, she widened her eyes, which were still a beautiful liquid gold. Shrugging at Carlisle's confused expression, she slowly made her way into the room. It stank of Bella's blood but for some odd reason, the thirst did not burn its way up Alice's throat. "I need to be here."

"Alice," Carlisle warned.

"I _need_ to be here, Carlisle," Alice was almost pleading, her voice breaking. "It's like a pull...I don't know." She stared beseechingly up at the doctor. "Please."

Carlisle sighed but nodded resignedly. "Her injuries are too severe," he declared needlessly. "I could turn her…"

Before Carlisle could finish he found himself pinned to the wall, Alice's fingers a vice around his throat. "Alice?" His eyes widened as his daughter snarled up at him. "Alice, let me go," he demanded quietly but firmly.

"Don't change her," Alice hissed. "Don't you dare." There was an intensity in her voice that would melt solid steel.

"Alice, she's not going to make it," Carlisle reasoned softly. "She's lost too much blood as it is."

Alice shook her head stubbornly as she almost reluctantly released Carlisle. "Please," she whispered, her voice coated with pain. "Please just...just do what you can."

Carlisle stared at Alice; the anguished look in her eyes was enough to have him nodding. He walked over to his desk and pulled out a pair of gloves before tossing them to Alice. He reached back to slap on a pair as he said, "Help me then. Let's begin."

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	3. Tick Tock Go The Days

**A/N** - Flashbacks to the past are in Italics, FYI.

**Chapter 3 - Tick Tock Go The Days**

Alice sleepwalked down the stairs, her face drawn and pale, even for a vampire. She dragged her feet over to the living room where she promptly threw herself onto the couch, burying her face into a propped up cushion.

It had been three days. Three days since Bella's "arrival". Three days filled with an uneasy silence that was unaccustomed in the Cullen house. Three days of listening to Bella's erratic heartbeat as the muscle worked feebly trying to pump blood to where it was needed. Three days of stalking up and down the upstairs landing, daring anyone who wasn't Carlisle to come even a foot near the study door.

Alice paused, forcing herself to examine her behavior that past few days. She was thrown into a memory of Emmett attempting to peek in on Bella and how she had very nearly killed the man for it.

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_Emmett could not contain his curiosity. Undeterred by the fact that Alice seemed to have promoted herself as this human's watchdog, Emmett sniffed the air delicately, wrinkling his nose against the scent of Bella's blood wafting up to tantalize his senses but not detecting Alice nearby. He slipped out of his room and quietly made his way down the landing to Carlisle's study, steadying himself as Bella's scent and blood became stronger. He shook himself out of his momentary bloodlust haze and had barely placed his hand on the doorknob when a mini tornado barreled into his side, knocking him away from the door and half into the opposite wall._

_Small but deceptively strong hands were around his neck, crushing and squeezing with no small amount of mercy. Emmett struggled, shocked at the strength and force Alice was displaying, but even more confounded by the fact that he could not loosen her grip. _

"_Alice," he wheezed. "Ally, let go." He heard a crack and a brief sporadic flash of pain as his Alice's fingers dug into his neck. _

"_ALICE!" Emmett fell to the ground, hands instinctively reaching up to cover his neck, checking for injuries. Grooves in the shape of fingernails dusted either side of his neck and he could feel the indentations of Alice's fingers. He crawled up to his knees to see Carlisle and Edward holding a wildly struggling Alice; the pixie vampire bore a feral expression, her eyes blank with fury, lips pulled up in a vicious snarl. Emmett shrunk back from the sight, unable to believe that this was his sweet tempered little sister. He back up against the wall, mindful of the damages it endured as Alice slammed him against it._

"_Sorry, Ally," he apologized, holding up his hands in defeat. "I won't go near Bella, ok? I promise."_

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Alice returned to the present with a sigh tinged with guilt. She still couldn't understand why she reacted the way she did but when the vision of Emmett struck her, her inexplicable rage had been mind consuming. She had all but flew up the stairs and tackled Emmett away from the door, intent on twisting the big man's head off. So blinded by her need to protect Bella, she had very nearly succeeded, only to have Carlisle and Edward thwart her intent. When she had finally calmed, she apologized profusely to Emmett, spluttering apology after apology, only to have the mountain of a man grab her in a bear hug, whispering that all was forgotten.

Three days. Alice was mentally wrung out, leading to her current physical sluggishness. She wished for sleep, longed for it as a lover might long for a beloved they had not seen in years. However, she was a vampire and their kind did not slumber like the human race. For the first time in decades, she resented her present form.

"Alice?"

Alice lifted her head, her bleary eyes making out Jasper's lithe form. She grunted and let her face fall back onto the cushion.

Jasper moved forward hesitantly. Alice's behavior as of late was nothing short of peculiar. The pixie haired vampire had appointed herself Bella's guardian, snarling and growling at anyone who went near the human brunette. Even Carlisle had taken to asking permission before entering his study to check on his patient, and this was done under Alice's watchful gaze. His sister was irrationally protective of the human and Jasper could not understand why. His empathetic powers only gave him a brief insight; Alice was as confused about her actions as they were but acknowledged that the pull she had toward the room upstairs was one she could not ignore. It often struck the pixie vampire that this connection she had with a complete stranger was nothing if not unsettling. Nevertheless, she accepted it without question and had proceeded to spend her days mostly by Bella's side, reading to the brunette or simply recalling her day.

Jasper's train of thought was interrupted by Alice's soft voice. He bent down by his sister's head and tentatively carded his fingers through spiky hair. ""How are you, little sister?"

Alice sighed, leaning into Jasper's touch, still charmed by the nickname after all these years. "I'm sorry for being such a bear," she mumbled. She pulled herself to a sitting position and ran a hand over her face. She huffed and blew an errant stand of hair out of her face. "Gods, I'm cracking up."

Jasper placed a hand on Alice's knee, squeezing gently. "There's nothing wrong with you, Ally." Another nickname, used by all members of the Cullen household when Alice needed a spot of cheering up.

Alice knuckled her eyes. "This is insane," she muttered. "I practically start hissing every time someone trudges up the stairs. I know none of you will hurt her but..."

"But you feel a strong overwhelming need to protect Bella," Jasper finished. He pulled himself up to sit next to Alice. "You forget who you're talking to," he continued off Alice's surprised look. "I can feel your need to protect her. It's unlike anything I've ever felt."

Alice frowned. Jasper was never one to mince his words but she had to admit his observation on her feelings made no sense. "But I don't even know her, Jaz! Who is she? Why did I have a vision of her? Why did the vision affect me the way it did? I feel such a connection to her and I don't even know her!"

There was a touch of hysteria to Alice's voice by the end of her sudden rant and Jasper reared back slightly in alarm before wrapping an arm around the seer. "I can't answer those questions, Alice," he apologized softly. "Maybe you two were meant to be." Alice had never been shy about her sexuality and the Cullen household knew of her attraction to both men and women and had accepted it without hesitation.

Alice scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous," she retorted softly, taking away the sting of her words by nuzzling her head against Jasper's shoulder.

"When was the last time you fed, Alice?" Jasper let the issue drop, knowing that the pixie vampire needed no more aggravation.

Alice tensed. "I'm fine." Her tone was clipped, edged with warning.

Jasper sighed, tugging a frustrated hand through his messy blonde hair. "You'll do nobody any good if you starve yourself." He stared pointedly into eyes that had begun to dull into a murky brown, refusing to back down at the heated glare thrown his way.

Alice shrugged out from under Jasper's arm and yanked herself to her feet. "I said I'm fine."

"Alice." Carlisle stepped out from the kitchen, a disapproving mask on his face that seemed to age him subtly. "If I recall, you haven't fed in over a week." A blonde eyebrow jumped upward, daring the seer to disagree.

Alice growled. "I don't need to hunt." She flitted up the stairs before either male could get in another word and slowly pushed open the door to the study, closing it softly behind her. She made her way over to the chair positioned next to Bella's bed, settling herself down on it before glancing up at the brunette. What she saw made her breath hitch and if she could have hyperventilated, she would have.

"CARLISLE!"

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	4. A Shocking Revelation

**A/N**: Thank you all for leaving comments. Your support is much appreciated.

**Chapter 4 – A Shocking Revelation**

"Extraordinary," Carlisle murmured. Well aware of Alice burning twin holes into his back, he quickened up his examination on Bella. The brunette was devoid of any injury; the bruises that tattooed her knuckles and marred the skin around her eye were gone, the various cuts around her body, previously looking like demented smiles, had all but disappeared. The bite marks that littered an ugly path down both arms had also ceased to exist. Carlisle's confusion increased tenfold when he gently turned Bella onto her side to examine her back. The whiplashes were gone as if they never existed; not one scratch nor line was to be seen. Bella's back was as flawless and unmarked as if it had never been kissed by the end of a whip.

"Impossible," the doctor muttered, almost to himself. His voice was awash with bewilderment, his scientific mind unable to comprehend the sudden turn of events. He moved limber fingers down to the human's casted ankle and gingerly began removing the cast, tearing slowly at the fabric with his hands. Carlisle frowned at what greeted him; the skin was still slightly speckled with mismatched bruises of yellow and green but it was blatantly obvious that the bone had healed. "Impossible." It seemed to be the only word that trailed through the patriarch's confounded mind.

"Carlisle." Alice's anxious voice floated over to sensitive ears. She peered over her adopted father's shoulder and traced eyes, dimmed to a brownish black from lack of blood, over Bella's now unblemished face. "How is this possible?" The petite vampire breathed out quietly. She ran a lone finger down Bella's cheek, silently marveling at its warmth and softness.

Carlisle tugged a baffled hand through his tousled hair. The feeling of dread that had taken up residence in the pit of his stomach upon witnessing the bite marks on Bella's arms now began gnawing at his gut with urgent intensity. "Do you remember the bite marks on her arms, Alice?" His voice was muted, heavy with trepidation.

A jerk of a head sent spiky strands of inky black hair to shudder in all directions. Alice turned her gaze fixedly onto Carlisle's face, a question and demand for an answer stark in those murky eyes.

"I don't think she was meant to escape," Carlisle theorized. He knew he was treading on thin ice by simply voicing this opinion to Alice. He watched his adopted daughter carefully, ready for the impending explosion.

"Escape?" Alice's voice cracked and pain flushed across her face at the thought of Bella being kept prisoner by some sadist vampire who took immense please in torturing the brunette. Then just as quickly, fire hot rage chased pain into a corner and lit up Alice's eyes so radiantly that they seemed to burn. "I'll kill them." It was neither a threat nor a promise. It was simply fact.

Carlisle placed a steadying hand on Alice's shoulder. "Remember who you are, Alice." The hand bore down on the shoulder it gripped, hard enough to drive the doctor's point home but not hard enough to hurt. Carlisle was almost afraid to admit that the tone in Alice's voice had very nearly caused him to shiver, so drenched it was in hatred.

Alice took a deep steadying breath, pulling an abashed expression over her face, though her insides quivered against the fumes of rage. She forced herself to focus on Bella's face, memorizing the dips and planes that made up the brunette's striking features. The human sure was beautiful; a sort of quiet beauty that did not realize it had the power to bring men and women to their knees. The pixie haired vampire made a mental bet that Bella had a shy personality. If only she were awake to put that bet to the test.

"Is she human, Carlisle?" Alice could hear Bella's heartbeat, still slightly sluggish and somewhat erratic but definitely stronger than the previous days. If she concentrated hard enough, she could hear the blood washing down the various veins in Bella's body. She could also detect the brunette's pulse point on the side of her neck; it drummed out a beat that made the skin above it jump to its tune. These were not characteristics of a vampire but Bella's rapid healing did not help in the assumption that she was human.

Carlisle shrugged, puzzled. "If you would permit me to do some tests," he began slowly. "The bite marks on her arms are a complete mystery. They are obviously made by a vampire but there was no trace of venom in her blood."

"The bastard could have sucked it back out," Alice surmised, pushing down the wall of animosity toward Bella's torturer.

Carlisle shook his head. "Not many vampires have the ability to draw back from the frenzy of feeding. Besides, some of the bite marks differed from others, almost as if more than one vampire was feeding on her. This again, does not make sense, because vampires don't share their meals."

Alice pounced in on the implication that more than one sadistic bloodsucker had tortured Bella. "More than one?" the pixie vampire spat out. She bit her lip from growling when Carlisle shot her a warning look and dug her nails into her palm in an attempt to remain calm. "Are you suggesting that Bella's immune to our venom?" It seemed an inconceivable notion.

Again, Carlisle shrugged, having grown increasingly frustrated from his lack of being able to answer of their questions. "Let me do some tests, Alice." The doctor was asking as much as he was stating the fact. "I promise not to hurt her."

Alice nodded. "I'm going to go hunt." It was a simple peace offering. She knew Carlisle worked best on his scientific experiments when he was undisturbed. She heard Carlisle release a near silent sigh of relief and turned to bestow her father a soft apologetic smile. With a last lingering look at the still slumbering brunette, Alice took off through the study's balcony.

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_Six hours later_

Alice paced the length of the living room, shooting sporadic anxious glances up the stairs. What was taking the doctor so long? The petite vampire wondered if she would make it through the rest of the week with her sanity intact.

"Alice, sit down!" A guttural growl emanated from the end of the couch. Alice turned and fixed a heated glare at the owner of the voice. Jasper returned the look, his golden eyes pulsating with irritation, the book in his lap forgotten in favor of staring his sister down. "Your anxiety is driving me crazy." A severe understatement. As with the rest of the family, Jasper was filled with apprehension over the latest development concerning Bella. Nevertheless, Jasper did not need the added weight of Alice's anxiety to fuel his own and the result was burrowing a hole through the ex-soldier's normally calm demeanor.

"Then why the hell are you here?" Alice scowled. She resumed her pacing, intent on wearing down the carpet.

"Because you're my sister." The reply was simply enough but it halted Alice in her steps. She spun around, delicate and graceful as a well-trained ballerina and bequeathed Jasper with a sheepish look. "Sorry, Jaz," she offered meekly.

Jasper's lips twitched into a smile. "It's ok, Ally," he replied. He patted the space next to him, inviting the pixie vampire to sit. "I know, we're vampires but even Carlisle can only work so fast."

Alice sat down with a huff, collapsing her head against Jasper's firm shoulder. She plucked imaginary flint from Jasper's jeans as she allowed the empathetic vampire to wrap her in waves of soothing calm.

"Do you resent Carlisle?"

Alice's head bounced up with a start, spiky stands springing up and down in response to the sudden move. "How can you ask me that?" Alice spluttered in disbelief. She stared incredulously at Jasper.

He flung an arm around his sister and drew her close, lest she bolt. "I'm sorry to assume it was directed at him." Jasper's eyes conveyed his apology. "But I feel a tendril of resentment from you, Ally."

Alice's brow burrowed, creating a deep groove between her eyes. Sometimes living with an empath meant that no secrets could be kept. "It's not toward Carlisle," she replied softly, embarrassment and guilt coloring her voice.

"Bella," Jasper guessed and bussed Alice's forehead at her nod. "Oh Ally..."

"I know she didn't ask for this, for us to find her, for me to get a vision," Alice stammered quickly. "But I just can't help but feel that suddenly she's here and everything and everyone is thrown into chaos." She threw her hands up in the air. "And now I feel guilty for feeling this way which makes me somewhat mad at her!"

Jasper doubled his efforts on soothing a now agitated Alice. He snaked out a tangle of soothing waves, curling it around Alice until her shoulders drooped and her head dropped back onto his shoulder. Nestled against him, Jasper held her close. "It's only natural to feel that way, Alice." He intoned wisely. "You have nothing to feeling guilty for."

"She'll hate me for it," Alice mumbled into his shirt.

Jasper chortled. "No she won't." He believe this wholly and made sure that his voice communicated that. He wrapped another layer of calm over Alice, almost sending her into a meditative state between sleep and wakefulness. It was the closest they could get to actual sleep. It seemed to have worked because Alice did not stir when Carlisle trotted down the stairs, a pinched and tired expression marring the features of his face.

"Carlisle?" Jasper inquired, careful not to let his curiosity transfer to Alice.

Carlisle ran a hand over his face, smoothing away some of the tiredness. "Bella's awake."

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	5. First Encounter

**Chapter 5 – First Encounter**

"_Bella's awake."_

Those two words had Alice so fast on her feet and flying up the stairs that it left Carlisle and Jasper gaping at each other, a curious mix of bemusement and concern curtaining across their faces. A scream, encased with heart-stopping terror, stripped their expressions into one of horror; in unison, they tore up the stairs, Esme on their tails having come in from the garden, with Edward, Rosalie and Emmett streaking out from their respective bedrooms. The entire Cullen family almost ran through the wall dividing the study from the hallway in their haste to heed the call of that primal scream. The scene before them had the entire family of vampires screeching to a halt in front of the gurney, almost tripping over each other in the now over-crowded study.

Bella was cowering at the foot of the gurney, knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped around her legs. Her posture positively screamed fear; it leaked off her in torrents and one did not need to be an empath to drown in the terror that was radiating off Bella in waves. Her face was contorted with horror as eyes, blank with panic, bounced off each Cullen individual. The look had every vampire instinctively taking a step back.

Alice herself was slowly backing away from the terrified brunette; her hands were held up in front of her in a gesture that the pixie vampire desperately hoped conveyed her promise to do no harm. "Bella," Alice began tentatively and mentally cringed as her melodious voice, usually causing humans to swoon had an immediate opposite effect on the brunette. Bella flinched as if she had been hit and backed herself further against the wall, heartbreaking whimpers pouring over her lips at a mile a minute.

Alice made a discreet yet impatient gesture for her family to leave. While Carlisle's study was by no means small, having a mini contingent of vampires in the room only served to make the walls seem closer together. The petite vampire's shoulders slumped in slight relief as one by one; the Cullens shuffled out of the room. Only Carlisle hesitated; the doctor lingered in the doorway, throwing an uneasy look at Bella before sending a silent question in Alice's direction. Alice nodded tersely and Carlisle stepped back into the study, closing the door softly behind him. He purposely positioned himself away from the door as to not seem as if he were barricading the exit with his body.

"Bella," Alice tried again. She locked eyes with the brunette, pleading for the girl to see her sincerity that she was not here to hurt her. "I won't hurt you," Alice swore. There was a note of conviction in her voice that rang loud and true. "Carlisle won't hurt you either," Alice continued when Bella's still panicked induced gazed flicked over to the patriarch.

Carlisle tossed Bella a gentle smile, the ones pediatric doctors gave to their young charges in order to calm them down after being hustled into a strange unknown environment. "Hello, Bella," the doctor greeted quietly.

Bella struggled violently to steady her furiously racing heart; if she were not careful, it might very well just pound its way out her chest. She pulled the midnight blue blanket that had pooled at her feet back up over her knees, needing a barrier between her and the two vampires that were standing before her. "Wh-where am I?" she rasped, wincing when the words clawed its way up her over dried throat.

"You're at our house," Alice replied softly. She put down her hands and shuffled about on her feet. "You were so badly injured." The seer's voice broke as memories of Bella's torn, cut up and broken body crashed through her mind like a disembodied montage.

"You...you rescued me?" Bella's tone was incredulous. Vampires who rescued humans? _'I must be dead,'_ the brunette thought to herself. _'Or crazy.'_ She mentally nodded. _'I've officially lost my mind.'_

"My brother found you in the forest," Alice offered. She deliberately left out the part where Bella was almost swimming in a congealed pool of her own blood. Some things were best left unsaid.

Bella's eyes clouded over with renewed fear at the mention of Emmett. She was in a house filled to the brim with vampires. This did not bode well with her. "What do you want with me?" Her jaw quivered and tears burned at her eyes, threatening to cascade a salty path down her cheeks.

Alice chewed at her lip; she wanted nothing more than to run to Bella and fold her up in her arms, promising from dusk until dawn that nothing and no one would ever hurt her. However, a sudden move like that would no doubt cause Bella to scream blue bloody murder. Therefore, she stood her ground. "I want you to be safe."

Bella barked out a laugh that was dark with sarcastic amusement. "You're a vampire," she rasped out.

"We don't feed on humans, Bella." The tall blonde man was addressing her now and Bella's eyes flitted over to him. "Look at our eyes, their color reflects our diet. Vampires who feed on human blood have red eyes. Ours are gold; we feed off animals."

Bella peered up into the doctor's eyes; indeed, they were a liquid gold, almost shiny in their intensity. Her gaze drifted over to his deathly pale skin. Again, despite this new revelation, Bella felt herself pressing her back firmly against the wall.

"Please, Bella," Alice's tone was pleading, begging. "Let's us help you." The seer was close to tears; she could feel the venom laced liquid seeping in from the corners of her eyes.

"How do you know my name?" Bella demanded. Her strength was coming back to her and she clung onto the knowledge with a quiet desperation.

Alice frowned. "I-I don't know." She could almost see the wheels in Bella's head turning at this non-explanation and grappled quickly at another answer. "I had a vision of you. I can see into the future," Alice responded.

"You have premonitions," Bella echoed back. At Alice's nod she continued. "You saw me getting hurt?" Another nod. "So you went to find me?" A third nod of confirmation. "Are you sure you're a vampire?"

Alice giggled despite the seriousness of the situation. Bella was half aghast and half charmed by how the sound sent a spread of warmth through her. "I am. But not the bad kind." She forced the hatred out of her last few words. Bella's tormenters would get just rewards. Right now, she had to concentrate on gaining Bella's trust. "Please, let's us help." Alice's voice had taken on a desperate quality again. "What can I do to make you trust me?"

Bella's dark chocolate brown eyes fixed itself onto Alice's honey colored ones. There was something about the spiky haired vampire that called out to her; something that screamed safety and protection. But she was a vampire! Bella chewed at the inside of her cheek, not knowing what to believe or think. She kept her eyes on Alice who did not break eye contact. In fact, Alice's eyes implored Bella to believe her; it was coated with such sincerity that it made the gold in the vampire's eyes swirl. Bella found herself suddenly transfixed by Alice's beauty; the soulful golden eyes peeking out from under long dusky lashes, the perfectly sculpted cheekbones and full red lips framed by a pixie like face. Alice was nothing if not enchanting.

"Gods, you're beautiful," the brunette blurted out. Immediately she blushed, the rouge spreading over her cheeks and heating up her face. She buried her face in her hands. "Oh my gods, I did not just say that," she mumbled into her palms, utterly mortified by her verbal diarrhea.

A smile ghost Alice's lips at the unexpected compliment. She shot Carlisle a withering stare as her sensitive ears picked up his quiet chuckle. He merely smiled in her direction, eyes twinkling with amusement. Alice rolled her eyes.

"May I offer you some water, Bella?" Carlisle asked, keeping his voice low and hushed in order not to alarm the girl. He smiled indulgently as Bella's still red-tinged face bobbed back up to look at him. He watched her hesitate for a moment before nodding. Carlisle moved to the door and twisted the knob. "I'll be right back." He closed the door behind him, leaving Alice and Bella alone.

"You keep food in the house?" Bella questioned curiously. Her eyes quested around her surroundings finding a perfectly ordinary setting of a study looking back at her.

"Not much, just to keep up the appearance of a kitchen," Alice answered. She inched forward slightly, barely moving an inch in Bella's direction. She saw that Bella had caught her movement and froze. "Do you mind if I sit down?" Alice gestured at the chair that was still by the side of the gurney.

Bella's hand reached up to tug nervously at her earlobe. "S-sure," she agreed, her voice weak with apprehension. However, the brunette was not sure if the apprehension was stemmed from her fear of Alice being a vampire or the fact that she was going to be in such close proximity to her.

Alice detected the shade of uncertainty in Bella's voice. "Maybe I should just stay over here." Alice was not willing to compromise the very fragile bond of trust they had started to weave.

The corner of Bella's lip curled. She waved a hand at the chair. "Please. Sit."

Alice watched Bella carefully for any signs of her retracting the offer. She painstakingly made her way to the chair, then slowly folded herself onto it, all the while keeping eye contact with Bella. When she was finally settled onto the furniture, Bella almost timidly stuck out her hand. "Hi, I'm Bella," she said.

Alice felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. Bella was presenting her with a peace offering. She lifted her hand and gently took Bella's hand in her own, shaking it slightly. "Hi, Bella. I'm Alice."

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	6. Getting To Know You

**Chapter 6 – Getting To Know You**

Alice reclined on her side, one small fist tucked beneath her chin, her spiky hair splayed out in a messy disarray over her pillow. Beside her lay Bella, who was slumbering deeply. Despite the fact that her physical wounds had healed rapidly, Bella seemed to flounder within a drained and exhausted state. The brunette woke late in the mornings and took frequent afternoon naps only to drop back into the cradle of sleep not one hour after the sun had set. After a week of witnessing no change in Bella's sleep habits, Alice had confronted Carlisle about it, wind milling her hands almost comically as she sought to wrangle a medical explanation from the doctor. It had taken Carlisle almost half an hour to reassure his daughter that Bella's need for sleep was perfectly normal; she was renewing her spent up energy reserves. Carlisle also implied that Bella's swift healing might have zapped her of her strength as well, resulting in the need for extra rest.

Alice sighed softly as she evoked the memory of the brief but insightful conversation she had with Bella regarding her extraordinary gift. As the memories floated across her mind's eye like a reel of film, she could not help but shuffle closer to the still sleeping brunette.

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"_Are you..." Alice did not know how to continue. Her budding relationship with Bella as strained to say the least. Yes, the first building block of trust had been laid down but Bella was still skittish and Alice had to monitor her every move and word to ensure that the brunette would not relapse into her initial and instinctive fear of vampires. _

_Bella's brows knitted as she observed Alice closing her mouth, unable to structure her sentence coherently. She snuggled back against the pillow she was propped up against as she popped another French fry into her mouth. "Am I what, Alice?" Bella mumbled around the piece of food._

_Alice momentarily forgot her train of thought; watching humans eat their food was a fascinating sight for her and always brought a peculiar blend of envy and resignation to the vampire. Alice had no memories of her human life and therefore she had no memories of food. She often wondered what an apple would taste like, or even something as simple as water. However, being a vampire did not allow for a human diet; their stomachs rejected the food as quickly as it was swallowed. Alice would know. She had tried ingesting a piece of bread once and knew it was a huge mistake the minute she had tried to swallow. Not only was the smell off-putting but the small morsel had clambered so fast up her throat and spilled onto her tongue and over her lips in a dizzying rush of bile and pain that the pixie vampire had doubled over from the sensation of it all. After that harrowing experience, the seer never went near human food again. Nevertheless, it had not quelled her curiosity in watching people eat. _

"_Alice?" _

_The vampire in question shifted golden hued eyes onto malted cocoa ones. Bella sat opposite her, her face clearly wearing an expression of that of a teacher waiting for an answer. Alice picked at her thoughts, swimming around for an answer to a question she did not quite remember. Then it hit her. "Oh," she murmured sheepishly. She bent her head slightly, tousled strands of midnight black hair tumbling over an eye. "I was just wondering if you were human," the vampire mumbled quietly._

_Bella's brow arched. "Of course I am!" There was a harsh ring of indignation in her voice. She inhaled a calming breath of air as she realized why Alice has asked her that. "It's because of how I heal, isn't it?"_

_Alice picked her head up and chewed on her lower lip. She nodded shyly then tossed Bella a wry grin. "Are you a special kind of human then?"_

_Bella chuckled, knocking back another handful of fries. She chewed thoughtfully as she arranged her thoughts together. "I don't know how I can heal that fast. I've been this way for as long as I can remember." She swallowed and continued. "It's like rapid cell regeneration, I guess. But it takes a lot of out me." _

_Alice screwed her face up in apt confusion. "I've never heard of a human with that kind of cellular structure." She thought of her own premonition powers, which she had when she was human herself and shrugged. "Then again, who am I to talk?" She caught Bella's questioning glance. "I apparently had visions when I was human," Alice explained. "I did some research on myself. I was put in a mental asylum for it."_

_Bella's eyes clouded at the matter of fact tone Alice used. "I'm sorry," she offered uselessly._

_Alice smiled. "It's ok. I don't remember any of it." Alice's eyes traced over the features of Bella's face briefly, honeyed eyes lingering at soft lips before moving back up to drown in those chocolate depths. _

_A silence blanketed the room as the two girls merely stared at each other, each feeling the chemistry and pull to the other. Bella finally broke away, a blush creeping up her cheeks. She stuffed a handful of fries in her mouth, in order to gather her wits._

_Alice gave herself a mental shake. _'This is no time to flirt with her!'_ the petite vampire berated herself. She cut through the sudden awkwardness air with another question. "So you're immune to our venom because of your...ability?"_

_Bella shrugged. "I guess." She suddenly shivered, her face darkening in the wake of a sudden memory of two particular people who had discovered this particular "talent" and used it for their own sick amusement. She remembered the agony of vampire venom being poured into her veins as she was bitten over and over; it felt like fingers of fire raking its nails down every last nerve with the caress of acid biting down on her blood cells. The pain had been so extreme, so encompassing that Bella wished fervently for death to take her. She recalled screaming herself hoarse, abusing her vocal chords to the point where she could no longer draw air into her lungs without inflicting pain onto her overly raw throat._

"_Hey." Alice's eyes glowed with concern as she felt Bella retreat into herself. She slowly reached over and placed her hand on top of Bella's blanket covered knee, keeping the contact light and fleeting. _

_Bella flinched as she was thrown back into reality. She blinked furiously as she tried to will her mind into believing that she was not being held captive in that dark prison. She tensed as Alice's fingers danced once over her knee but forced herself to relax. She threw Alice a watery smile. "I'm ok," she said, her voice quavering slightly._

_Alice gave the knee a gentle pat before drawing away. She knew Bella wasn't ready to talk about her past and as long as it did not rear its ugly head, they had all the time in the world to cross that bridge. Alice slid off the bed and made her way over to a drawer. It was quickly decided that Bella would stay in Alice's room. Nobody made so much as a speckle of protest; Alice had already made it blatantly clear that she would be taking care of Bella. Not that the job could have fallen to anyone else; Bella was still fearful of the rest of Cullens and would shy away from anybody who wasn't Alice. _

_The seer gave a small cry of triumph as she fished a slightly battered pack of cards out of her drawer. She turned to Bella and waved her prize in question. "Uno?"_

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Alice jerked back to the present as a small whimper tumbled out from Bella's slightly parted lips. The vampire immediately shifted until she was almost molded to Bella's back. One hand snaked out and began rubbing soothing circles over a thin t-shirt that was vaguely damp with sweat. Another whimper escaped; Bella kicked at the blankets as if fighting against some restraint. Her arms shot out, clutching at the bedding as she began crying in her sleep, tears trickling from closed lids. Her body jerked and spasmed from unknown attacks and minute cries were bubbling from her throat in increasing intensity.

Alice tucked a tear soaked strand of chestnut brown hair behind Bella's ear. "Shh," the seer crooned quietly. She ducked her head down until her lips were mere inches away from the brunette's ear and began humming a tune. Her hand never ceased the rubbing of Bella's back as Alice hummed tune after tune into Bella's ear. Eventually the jerking stopped and Bella calmed. Amazingly enough, the girl did not wake and for that, Alice was grateful. She did not know how Bella would have handled having Alice in such close proximity after waking from a frightful nightmare that no doubt involved blood-thirsty vampires intent on inflicting pain. The petite vampire listened as Bella's breathing evened out and her body relaxed back onto the bed. Alice sighed in stark relief. She lifted her head slightly, watching Bella's face for any sign of discomfort. Except for the tear tracks, Bella's face was smoothed over with sleep, her brow relaxed and her breathing deep.

Alice gently reached up and wiped away the last few drop of tears that clung stubbornly to Bella's eyelashes. She ran her knuckles gently down Bella's cheek, once again savoring the warmth of her skin. Unable to resist she deposited a feather light kiss on the brunette's forehead, pausing only to inhale the human's intoxicating scent. "Sleep well, Bella." And with that, Alice moved a respectable distance back to the other side of the bed and waited for a new day to dawn.

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Bella awoke to Alice's scent. It cocooned her in its arms, wrapping tendrils of comfort around the brunette's haggard soul. The girl turned and nuzzled her face into the pillow, inhaling deeply. Alice's scent, an enthralling fusion of honeysuckle, vanilla and cotton candy, wafted up her nose, tickling her senses and drugging her tense muscles into submission. She snuggled deeper still into the pillow; she wanted to get lost in Alice's fragrance.

"I think I'm jealous," a teasing voice piped up.

Bella lifted a groggy head framed by sleep-tousled hair that stuck out in awkward directions. She pried open a heavy lidded eye, wincing as a shard of sunlight shot straight into her iris. She closed her eye and shifted her head slightly before forcing both eyes open. A blurry figure focused itself into Alice, who was sitting cross-legged on the other side of the bed, flipping through a magazine. "Huh?" Bella croaked, her voice rough with sleep.

Alice cast Bella a small grin. "You and the pillow." She gestured at the object in question with a delicate flick of a wrist.

Bella's face flushed with embarrassment. "It smells like you," she admitted, her face feeling as though it were on fire.

Alice's grin widened. "Well it's nice to know that I smell as good to you as you do to me." Her stomach suddenly plummeted twelve floors as she realized what she had just implied. "No! No, that's not…not what I meant!" Alice stammered. She grasped frantically for an apology. "I didn't mean that you smelt appetizing, the smell of your blood doesn't affect me! I-I just meant that you smelled good…and…and…"

Bella cut Alice off by placing a finger over Alice's lips. Over the past week, she had watched Alice walk eggshells around her; she made sure not to say or do anything that would antagonize Bella and any contact she made with the brunette was conducted carefully and only after she had screened Bella's face for confirmation. "I know what you meant," Bella said. "I'm not going to break, Alice. I know you won't hurt me." She withdrew her finger instantly missing the connection. She folded her hands onto her lap and waited.

Alice resisted the urge to lick at her lips; she could feel the remnants of Bella's scent on it and wanted nothing more than to draw that essence into her body. Instead, she dropped a lock over her emotions and smiled self-consciously at the brunette. "Are you hungry? Can I make you breakfast?" The spiky haired vampire's eyes lit up at the prospect of making a human meal. There were so many ingredients, so many food choices. Alice loved to read cookbooks and try the recipes out even though the resulting meal smelt horrible and pungent to her.

Bella chuckled. Alice's near obsession with human food was nothing short of adorable. "Sure," she conceded. "Wait," she asked as Alice moved to slide off the bed. She suddenly remembered what Alice had said during her impromptu rant. "You don't...you don't find my blood appetizing?" Bella internally winced at the inapt phrasing of that question. The last thing she wanted was for Alice to thirst for her blood. Alice was her last grip on sanity; if she lost her Bella didn't think she would make it.

Alice stopped and turned back around. She cocked her head, trying to figure out how to explain without freaking Bella out. Seeing the expectant look on Bella's face, she settled for the truth. After all, Bella herself had said that she was not fragile. "The smell of your blood is intoxicating, alright," Alice began. "But it doesn't make me thirsty." She shrugged a shoulder at the mystery of it all. "It's only like that with you."

Bella's brow scrunched. "Really? That's...odd," she finished lamely, unable to comprehend this sudden knowledge.

Alice's lips stretched into a gentle smile. "Maybe you're just special," she whispered tenderly. Their eyes locked and a few dozen unspoken words passed between them. This time Alice pulled away first. She daintily hopped off the bed and held out a hand to Bella. "Shall we go get your breakfast?"

Bella smiled in turn, as she took the proffered hand, allowing Alice to tug her from the bed and out the room. As they descended the stairs, hands still clasped together, Bella came to an abrupt realization that Alice would become an integral part of her life. The very thought warmed her to the tips of her toes.

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**A/N** - I, uh, borrowed the whole "rapid cell regeneration" gig from X-Men and Heroes. However, just to clarify, Bella's not immortal. She _can_ die. Oh and a lot of readers asked whether Bella ages in their comments sooo...yeah she ages. Now, now, y'all need to chilax. Nobody said relationships between humans and vampires were gonna be easy. Besides, limiting Bella's ability as such makes room for more creativity. :-)


	7. Sunshine, Poetry And Sparkles

**Chapter 7 – Sunshine, Poetry And Sparkles**

**A/N** – Apologies for the late update. It's been a hectic few days. This chapter is really just filler, it probably could have gone into chapter 6 but I didn't think of it when I wrote that chapter. Anyway, this is just something to keep y'all occupied until I write out the next chapter and I promise the next one won't be so short.

Alice sat on the porch swing, legs splayed out across the bench. Bella was curled up against her, head resting on the seer's chest, her own legs entangled over Alice's. One hand had found purchase on the hem of the vampire's shirt and fingers wound itself around the material as she allowed the dulcet tones of Alice's voice to lull her into a semi-drowsy state.

"_To see a world in a grain of sand / And heaven in a wild flower / Hold infinity in the palm of your hand / And eternity in an hour"_

"William Blake," Bella mumbled in approval, rubbing her cheek against Alice's shirt.

Alice glanced down at her charge, eyebrow arched. "You know your poetry. A woman after my own heart," she teased, though she was unsurprised by Bella's knowledge. A faint heat emanated through her shirt, no doubt from Bella's sudden blush at her words. Alice simply smiled before continuing.

Breakfast had been an uneventful affair save for the fact that it was an unusually sunny day in Forks. Though swollen gray clouds, played tag across sky, occasionally blurring out the sun, rays of light still cut through, throwing the backyard into an ethereal glow. Alice had wasted no time in dragging Bella out for a good dose of fresh air and sunshine after breakfast, insisting that the girl needed to gain some color back onto her cheeks.

"_Every morn and every night / Some are born to sweet delight / Some are born to sweet delight / Some are born to endless night"_

Alice paused as Bella shifted slightly against her, sighing softly, sleepily. "Don't I make an uncomfortable perch?" Alice couldn't help but query. Her skin was granite hard after all and just as cold.

Bella shook her head, fighting the fog of sleep that threatened to send her under. "You're very comfortable," she assured. To emphasize her point she blindly reached for Alice's hand, tugging it across her waist. She let loose a sub-vocal purr as the pixie vampire began smoothing circles over her stomach.

The two sat in comfortable silence; it draped over them like a warm blanket and Bella was content to fall asleep in Alice's arms when a shard of sunlight shot through the clouds and drenched the pair in light. Bella gasped lightly as she saw Alice's skin sparkle through heavy lidded eyes. It was as if thousands of diamonds had embedded itself into Alice's skin; it glittered and twinkled like stars in the night sky. Wordlessly, Bella traced a wondrous finger over the vampire's arm, marveling at its smoothness and cold texture.

"Wow," she murmured. She twisted her body around, craning her head up to look at Alice's face, which sparkled, setting off her midnight black hair. Bella could not help but run inquisitive fingers down Alice's cheek; the seer's eyes closed involuntarily at the touch. "You're so pretty," Bella breathed out. She felt as though she was in the presence of something mystical; Alice's beauty was entrancing. The moment was broken was a stubborn blob of cloud planted itself over that shard of light. The pair were thrown back into the shadows and the shimmery quality of Alice's skin faded away.

Alice stared at Bella, her emotions suddenly so overwhelming that she was rendered speechless. Only Bella would find her beautiful in the sun; the sun that revealed her true nature. Even after having been tortured mercilessly by vampires, Bella still found the beauty within. How did she ever get so lucky? "You are something else, Bella," Alice whispered reverently. She reached down to tucked an errant strand of chestnut colored hair behind Bella's ear.

Bella was thankful that she kept her blush in check. A smile flitted across her lips and she tucked her head back under Alice's chin, gesturing at the book that dangled from Alice's hand. The vampire nuzzled her cheek against Bella's sweet smelling hair before complying. Tugging the book back up to eye-level, Alice resume her recital of William Blake's haunting poetry.

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**Disclaimer** – Poetry belongs to Mr. William Blake. I do not take credit for it, I was just borrowing it.


	8. Questions And Secrets

**Chapter 8 – Questions And Secrets**

**A/N** – Here's the next chapter y'all. As promised, it's longer. Also, as you would have noticed with the last chapter, I've taken some liberties regarding the Cullen house. They probably didn't have a porch swing and their living room furniture may be arranged differently in the books and movies but hey, it doesn't all have to be accurate!

More days passed without as much as a ripple in the lives of the Cullens and now Bella. Ordinarily, these uneventful days would go unnoticed but given the current situation concerning Bella, it only served to make the entire household increasingly nervous.

Bella herself had grown quieter, retreating into introverted silence and gazing distractedly off into space whenever she thought she wasn't being watched. Alice hovered around the brunette, a burning question stinging at her tongue, begging for release but was held prisoner by Alice's clamped up lips.

Edward was also acting suspicious. As Bella had grown more comfortable around the rest of the Cullens, to the point where she would sit in the living room to watch TV or indulge in a game with Emmett, Edward had come to a sinking realization: Bella was more – "unique" than any of them had originally thought. Unique by way of Edward being unable to get so much as a peep out of the brunette's thoughts. When the messy haired vampire first made this discovery, he had dismissed it thinking it was a fluke. However, as days passed he realized that he could hear everyone's thoughts but Bella's. This did not bode well with him. What was Bella? He never knew anyone, human or vampire, whose thoughts he could not read and this notion made him uneasy.

Edward's sudden animosity toward the girl had not gone unnoticed, especially by Alice. It had resulted in straining the relationship between brother and sister. The pixie vampire had picked up on his unease and had taken to watching him carefully out of the corner of her eyes whenever he and Bella were in proximity of each other.

The others seemed to having taken Bella in their stride. Jasper only kept his distance because the aroma of Bella's blood skirting down her veins that lay beneath her skin proved too overwhelming. Rosalie was slightly frosty toward Bella; but that was because she secretly resented the girl's humanity. Emmett had found a new playmate in Bella; he would gently knock on the door to what was now considered Alice and Bella's room and pop his head in, puppy dog eyes in tow. He would pout and plead for Bella to come and play the latest game with him on his PlayStation after several sessions, Emmett had found a worthy opponent whilst Bella had found another Cullen family member she was comfortable with.

Carlisle treated Bella no different from his children. He would ask her about her day, grace her with a fatherly smile and allow her, her space. As for Esme, Bella had pushed the matriarch into full maternal mode. The motherly vampire fussed over the brunette like an overly eager mother hen, plying the girl with food and constantly asking if she needed anything. To say that Bella was uncomfortable with the attention was a severe understatement; it was painfully obvious to Esme and Alice that Bella had never been on the receiving end of motherly affection. Bella would blush furiously under Esme's chiding and mothering, mumbling under her breath that she didn't need anything. When she could not dissuade Esme, she sank back against Alice, who would always be a few paces behind her, and let Alice take over. The reaction to Esme's mothering had raised several unannounced questions but neither vampire knew how to approach the subject.

Nevertheless, in regards to Esme's pampering, the situation had not changed. Even now, Esme pushed a plate of cookies and milk toward Bella, who was to be found curled up in Alice's arms. Predictably, the now familiar tinge of rouge spread over Bella's cheeks as she mumbled her thanks, her eyes downcast. Esme smiled and leaned over the coffee table to pat Bella's arm before sinking back onto the living room couch. She watched, a small victorious grin tugging at her lips as Bella absent-mindedly reached forward to pluck a cookie from the generous heap, dunking it liberally into the glass of milk before bringing it to her lips, munching slowly. The smile faded as Carlisle descended the stairs, an air of authority swirling around him like a cape.

All eyes swung to the patriarch. Carlisle rarely called for family meetings and whenever he did, it was never for fun. Carlisle regarded his family through solemn eyes; Esme gazed up at him expectantly and he smiled quietly at her before shifting his gaze to Rosalie and Emmett who were standing, leaning against the fireplace. The trio shared a look before Carlisle swept his gaze over to Jasper who was perched on the end of the couch, opposite from Alice and Bella. He nodded at Jasper, turned a soft fatherly look onto the cuddling couple that was his daughter and Bella before finally settling his gaze on his bronze haired son.

Edward was sitting behind the piano, an evident scowl twisting across his lips. His eyes strayed over to Bella, intense and untrusting before locking onto his father's. Carlisle shot Edward a warning glance and the mind reader jerked his head in acknowledgement. He shifted his facial expression into one of passivity, the blank look betraying nothing.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "I'm sure you all know why I called this meeting," he began, his baritone voice quiet but easily carrying over the silent living room. "We need to discuss the situation regarding Bella." He paused to toss an apologetic glance at the girl who met his gaze briefly before dropping her head to her chest. Alice simply glared before tugging Bella closer to her, rubbing soothingly at the hunched back. "But first, I believe Edward has something to say." He turned and watched the vampire behind the piano, clearly expecting participation from the broody male.

Edward momentarily clenched his left fist before inhaling a calming breath. He traced an imaginary path along the ivory and black keys of the new piano with a lone finger before pushing himself to his feet. He could feel Alice's icy stare boring twin holes into his face and he fought hard not to glare back. Clearing his throat unnecessarily, he said, "I can't read Bella's thoughts."

A collective gasp echoed throughout the room. Even Carlisle looked startled, his initial theory on why Edward behaved coldly toward Bella turned upside down. "You can't read her thoughts?" Carlisle repeated. He turned to look at Bella, who was visibly squirming against Alice.

Edward shook his head, his messy mop of hair, going into a further state of disarray. "I apologize for my behavior toward you, Bella," he said, directing his attention to the girl. "But you must understand that I have my reasons for doubt."

Bella opened her mouth to speak but Alice cut her off. "That's it? That's why you act like Bella's on the FBI's most wanted list whenever you see her?" Alice threw a hand up in the air. "Why didn't you just say anything? Do you have any idea just how much you've upset Bella? It's bad enough we're all waiting for the sadistic sons of bitches who nearly killed Bella to appear on our doorstep but for you to give her the cold shoulder when she's already in a fragile state - "

"I have every right to be suspicious!" Edward snapped back. He pointed an accusatory finger at Bella who flinched and shrank back into Alice. "She heals fast, I can't read her thoughts, she's turned Alice into some lovesick puppy and how the hell did she even end up in the woods anyway?"

Alice was on her feet now despite Bella's futile attempts to keep her on the couch. She snarled angrily at Edward, her deep orange-gold eyes flashing dangerously. "Be careful what you say next, Edward." Alice's tone was encased with ice and edged with warning. Her entire posture was rigid, hands clenched as they hung at her sides.

Carlisle stepped between the two and raised a cautioning hand. "Calm down," he ordered. It was not a request. He waited for the pair to back down but when neither moved he barked, "Now!"

Edward sat back down grudgingly, though his eyes glittered with unresolved anger. Alice's lips were curled back into a snarl but she resumed her place next to Bella who was fidgeting nervously, visibly unhappy that she was the cause of the family friction. Alice took note of this and forced her face to take on a more subdued expression. She gently tucked Bella under her arm, coaxing Bella's head onto her shoulder, blowing out a sigh as Bella collapsed against her.

Carlisle ran an agitated hand through his blonde locks. "Bella," he addressed the brunette. "Do you have any recollection of how you ended up in the woods?"

Bella worried her bottom lip with her teeth though she was careful not to break the skin. "I-I don't know," she lied. She did not want to involve the Cullens anymore than she already had. Her forehead creased as she pretended to run a mental inventory through her memories. She even glanced up helplessly at Alice whose own forehead was pinched as she tried to conjure up a vision.

Alice shook her head. "I'm not getting anything," she said finally. A thought struck her. "I haven't been getting any visions lately…" the spiky haired vampire trailed off, not wanting to share this sudden insight as it would only add fuel to the fire. However, she spoke too soon and her eyes narrowed warily as Edward pounced on this.

"You see?" Edward accused. "Ever since Bella got here, everything's screwed up! None of our powers seem to be working! How can she be human?" His eyes narrowed onto Bella, his previous apology having evaporated up into smoke. "And I may not be able to read her mind but I know for a fact that she's lying –"

Alice had leaped over the coffee table and had a hand wrapped around Edward's throat before any of the other's had a chance to blink. "I told you to watch what you say to my mate!" Alice hissed, any semblance of calm going straight out of the window. The word "mate" slipped effortlessly through Alice's lips like treacle but she was too busy absorbing up the thunderous livid rage that coursed through her veins to fully comprehend the sudden claim she had put on Bella. Her fingers began squeezing the muscles around Edward's throat; the vampire's Adam's apple bobbing nervously against the vice-like hold.

A growl burst forth from Edward's lips despite the grip Alice had on his throat. He threw Alice off, feeling her grip loosen though her nails raked down either side of his neck imprinting deep crooked ruts onto the skin. He pushed Alice into the floor, sneering down at the petite vampire. Alice's eyes had narrowed to slits; she head-butted Edward, who startled by the unexpected retaliation, stumbled backward into the wall, hearing it crack. Alice leaped back up to the balls of her feet and maneuvered her body into a crouched position. Just as she was about to launch herself bodily into Edward, two pairs of hands grabbed at her arms, forcing her back.

"Enough, Alice!" Esme sounded near tears, shocked beyond belief that her children had resorted to this kind of violence. Her distress increased tenfold as Alice began struggling forcefully against her and Carlisle's restraints, so blinded by her temper that she had lost all reasoning. "Alice!"

"STOP IT! JUST STOP!"

All vampires turned toward the source of the outburst. Bella had jumped up from the couch and was staring at the Cullens, tears tracking down her face. Her eyes were rapidly going red-rimmed and swollen and her tears rolled down ruddy cheeks, inflamed with misery. Bella's entire frame was shaking, consistent tremors quaking along muscles that felt like jello. She desperately clutched at the sides of her thin t-shirt as though it would it would stop the last threads of her sanity from unraveling.

Just...stop," Bella choked out, her voice contorted with pain. "I lied ok? I lied! I know how I got into the woods, I know who hurt me. I know EVERYTHING!" Her voice ended on a hysterical note and her breathing was coming out in such short bursts that Bella had to lean over and grab at the arm of the couch to stop her vision from swimming before her eyes. Her legs wobbled dangerously, threatening to fall out from under her.

The entire Cullen clan stood paralyzed before Bella, each wearing a near identical mask of confusion though each varied from different colors of emotion that tinged each vampire.

"Bella?" Alice rasped, her voice bruised with uncertainty. She swallowed hard, forcing her throat to unclench itself from the grip of her rising emotions.

Bella dropped to her knees, unable to sustain her weight. "It was my parents," she sobbed out, her bottled emotions erupting to the surface. The brunette's voice broke under the weight of her pain and anguish. "My parents are the ones who did this to me!"

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	9. It All Comes Crashing Out

**Chapter 9 – It All Comes Crashing Out**

**A/N** – !Warning! There are some semi-graphic depictions of child abuse in this chapter. If the content makes you uneasy, please skip over them.

Not one vampire moved. All were frozen, perfect imitations of statues sculpted to project beautiful god-like figures. However, these statues were rooted into place by Bella's horrific confession. The words that had shot forth from the girl's pale red lips had twisted into ropes, snaking around the bodies of the Cullens, cutting off all form of movement. Had the vampires needed to breathe, they would have been fighting tooth and nail to break their paralysis in order to claw at their necks; it seemed as if multiple lumps, born of acid, had blossomed in their throats. As every nanosecond ticked by, these lumps seemed to mutate, choking their passageway and restricting air to their lungs. Fortunately, for the Cullens, breathing was optional.

It was so silent in the house that one could hear a pin drop. Silence lorded over the living room, bouncing off the walls with childish glee. It swerved around each vampire taking cruel delight in the looks of horror etched upon each individual's face before crawling over to where Bella knelt. It danced around the sobbing brunette, menacingly making its presence known by placing a heavy weight on Bella's chest and squeezing, making it hard for the girl to draw in much needed air. Bella was hyperventilating; the lack of oxygen to nourish her lungs served to make her head spin unkindly and her vision to dot over with gray spots. She wrapped both arms around herself, a last attempt to seek some thread of comfort.

Alice stood stock still, her feet having seemed to become one with the ground. A fierce rushing of air shrieked through her ears, almost deafening her in its intensity. She could not move, not after Bella's confession. Bella who, in a moment of desperation, had proclaimed her dirty dark secret to all in the room. Bella who had lied to her, to her family. Bella, who was now coiled in a fetal position on the floor, chest heaving with breaths that seemed to take a heavy toll on the girl.

Emmett was the first to break free; tearing his feet off the ground with vicious intent. He walked over to Bella in three strides and scooped her up, uncaring of how Bella flinched at his touch. He cradled Bella to his barrel-like chest, rocking her as he would an infant. Bella seemed to disappear in those trunk-like arms; she had already contorted her body into as small a position as it would go and with Emmett now carrying her, she seemed impossibly smaller.

Emmett's face was a map of sorrow: his deep amber eyes glowed with venom infused tears that glinted off the overhead light. A muscle in his jaw ticked as he fought against the tidal wave of livid rage that was beginning a slow but steady burn throughout his body. He could not, however, halt the building growl that bubbled up from the depths of his throat. It rumbled within his chest, rattling his ribs and irritating his vocal chords. He sounded like a wounded grizzly bear; ferocious and unrelenting should he come across an enemy, yet the way he cocooned Bella in his arms spoke of utmost tenderness.

"What the hell is everybody staring at!" He roared, momentarily unable to contain his emotions. His voice was laced with pain and anger. Pain for Bella and anger toward those who dared hurt the girl. Bella flinched again against him and he immediately cuddled her closer, bending his head down to whisper apologetically into her ear. "Sorry, Lil' Bit." The nickname fell effortlessly from his lips and immediately he felt some of the tension leave the brunette's body as the nickname massaged its way into her muscles, soothing out the tension. He shifted Bella impossibly closer to him when he felt her grab at his shirt, her grip frantic and strong, born from a need to be close to a source of comfort. The movement broke Emmett's unbeating heart; he wasn't sure just how deep Bella's psychological wounds were but it was frantic movements like the clutching of his shirt that proved a lifelong pattern of neglect. It suddenly made Bella's clinging onto Alice easier to understand.

Emmett's booming voice tore off the ropes of restraints off his family members. Suddenly animated, they shifted and moved. Alice shook off her parents' hands and cautiously made her way over to Bella and Emmett, keeping her movements slow and steady.

"Bella?" Alice spoke softly, terrified of spooking the girl.

"Don't hate me!" Bella cried out, though her voice was muffled by Emmett's shirt. She clung harder to Emmett, her curtain of hair sweeping over her face, concealing her panicked expression.

"Oh baby, no one hates you," Alice swore. She shared a significant look with Emmett; he nodded and almost in sync, they sat back down on the couch, flanking Bella between them, though Bella remained buried in Emmett's arms. Bella twisted slightly and reached out for Alice, blindly thrusting out her arms in the direction she thought Alice was in. Emmett immediately relinquished his hold, watching as Bella all but launched herself onto his sister. It did not escape anybody's ears that Alice had called Bella her mate; humans and vampires alike were territorial but vampires had the added edge of heightened animalistic instincts when it came to choosing their partners. This made them extremely protective of their mates, to the point where they would cut down anyone in their path should they have harmful intent toward their partner, family or not.

Bella burrowed into Alice, inhaling Alice's scent, breathing it all in with a desperation that was similar to a drug addict taking their next hit. Trembling fingers dug into Alice's shirt, clutching at the material with fanatical intensity. Though Bella's frame was slightly bigger than Alice's, she still managed to look small in the pixie vampire's arms, so curled up into herself she was. Alice made shushing noises, wanting nothing more than for the tremors to stop wrecking through Bella's body and for her tears to stop.

"Shh," Alice hummed as she rocked Bella in her arms. She nuzzled at Bella's hair with her nose. "C'mon, baby, you're gonna make yourself sick." She rubbed at the girl's back, hoping to pat away the sobs that still clawed its way out of the brunette's quivering lips.

Emmett sat beside the pair, silent and unmoving as a statue but still an imposing figure. Only his eyes, now drained of tears, flickered. They moved over the patriarch and matriarch of the household; Carlisle's face was blank with mute fury, Esme had such a cold, murderous expression clouding her face that he scarcely recognized her. Rosalie looked aghast and Jasper's eyes were closed as he mentally kept Bella's overwhelming ocean of emotions at bay. Edward had the decency to look ashamed and Emmett threw him a scathing look, which caused the bronze haired vampire to duck his head to soften the mental blow.

In his or her new positions, nobody moved. It was too hard.

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Bella's sobs had been reduced to dying hiccups. Mentally she was still distraught, her mind a turmoil of emotions. Physically, she had run out of tears; she simply did not have the strength to cry anymore. Drying tear tracks scored two paths down either cheek and her lashes still glittered with residue droplets. Her previously shaking frame was quiet, still; Bella simply huddled within the confines of Alice's embrace, eyes darting back and forth between each Cullen member.

"I was eight," she began in a breathy whisper, her voice hoarse with emotion and pain. She felt Alice tighten her hold and Emmett shift subtly closer. "I was riding my bike when I fell and skinned both my knees clean. I remember crying and screaming for my mom and her running out of the backyard looking like I just announced my death." Bella's eyes took on a misty quality as she wandered down memory lane. "Mom scooped me up, stared once at my bloody knees and ran back into the house. She patched me up, gave me an ice-lolly and told me to watch TV. A few hours later she came to check my wounds and found that they had healed." Bella's jaw clenched as the next set of memories was only to be remembered as the bookmark to where her terror would begin. "Mom stared at me like I was something that had stuck to the bottom of her shoe."

"Stop." It was Alice. Her voice was weighted with sorrow and she was shaking so hard that she jolted Bella with every tremor. "I don't want to hear anymore."

Bella turned in Alice's arms to palm the seer's cheek in a touch of comfort...

Instead, she thrust the vampire's mind eye into a vision.

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_***FLASH***_

"_Goddamn freak!" A tall man with a thin mustache and hair a color that was achingly familiar growled at a girl cowering at his feet. He was a slim man but with an imposing air that was added on by his police uniform. He bent and yanked at the girl's hair, sneering into her face. "You don't deserve to be here." He threw her bodily into the wall, unfazed by her whimpers and a sickening crack that echoed throughout the room._

_***FLASH***_

"_Mama!" A girl about ten, latched herself onto the leg of a woman with brownish-blonde hair. _

_The woman shook her off, a disgusted scowl pulling back the corners of her lips. "Don't touch me!" When the girl refused to let go, the woman bent down and slapped the girl across the face, hard enough to split her lip, sending a spattering of blood to go airborne. "I said, get off!" _

_The girl scooted back until her back hit the cabinet door. She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs, sobbing. Blood continued to rain from the seam that had opened on her lower lip..._

_***FLASH***_

_A girl of about sixteen huddled in the corner of a dark bus stop. She wore a hoodie with the hood drawn completely over her head. She burrowed in this thin jacket, seeking warmth that she would not find. A sliver of moonlight ignited her face for a brief second; it was enough to see the myriad of bruises that were tattooed all over her face. Her lower lip was swollen and bloody; one eye was bruised shut and blood ran freely down one nostril. Tears, scalding hot, burned down her face, washing over the colors of sickly yellow and blackish-purple before dripping off a severely discolored chin to pool onto the pavement. There was enough moonlight to reflect off the haunted eyes of this runaway girl._

_***FLASH***_

_A young woman, barely nineteen, caught her sneaker on a jutting rock; the momentum sent her tumbling into a nearby ditch. The sudden vertigo of having hit her head against something sharp blurred her vision but not enough that she could not see two figures standing before her. Darkness crept into her gaze, forcing her to seek solace in the arms of unconsciousness but before she succumbed she caught two pairs of glinting eyes, eyes that were the color of blood._

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Alice screamed; it was anything but human. It reverberated off the walls, and pierced the eardrums in a manner that tore at the listener's soul whilst making their skin crawl and the hairs on the back of their necks of rise.

Alice thrust Bella into Emmett's arms for she could not hold onto Bella and her sanity at the same time. The images brought on from her vision drove her to her knees and the pixie vampire began dry heaving even though the action would prove futile. She clawed at the carpet, leaving deep grooves and bald patches.

"ALICE!" Esme's and Bella's articulation of the single word mingled together. Esme all but flew over to her kneeling daughter, gripping her shoulders worriedly. Bella wrenched herself out of Emmett's grasp and dropped next to Alice, her body shaking with anticipation.

The other Cullens also rushed forward, forming a perfect half circle around the kneeling trio but before they could offer their hand, Alice pushed off from the ground and bolted. She dodged hands that attempted to stop her, shouldered her way through Carlisle and Edward and ran to the front door. She yanked at the doorknob and having all but ripped the front door from its hinges, Alice bound into the darkness of night running headlong into the cover of the woods.

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	10. Desperately Seeking Alice

**Chapter 10 – Desperately Seeking Alice**

It had 24 hours since Alice's disappearance. 24 hours; 1440 minutes; 86400 seconds.

Esme breathed out a loaded sigh as she resumed her near obsessive cleaning of a non-existent stain on an all too shiny pot. The object in question squeaked in protest as Esme conducted a rather vigorous rubbing motion. The resulting sound made the matriarch wince, her sensitive hearing having amplified the noise tenfold. She sighed again, setting the cloth down almost reluctantly as another sound, more disturbing, floated over to nudge at her eardrums. Honey washed eyes flickered upward, staring worriedly at the ceiling. Her undead heart clenched in sympathy as a muffled whimper squeezed through the floorboards only to dust the air in the kitchen.

Yet another sigh ghosted past pursed lips; it seemed as if Esme had suddenly accommodated an endless supply. However, each sigh was unique in that it was clothed with a different emotion; this latest one being one of helplessness. The vampire knew better than to go comfort Bella; the girl would not let anybody near her. Even Emmett had been rejected despite his best efforts, though it did not stop her mountain of a son from patrolling outside of the room Bella had shut herself in.

The motherly vampire picked up the cleaning cloth, giving serious consideration to delve back into the abyss of housework. However, after eyeballing the spotless kitchen and unnecessarily clean kitchen utensils, Esme dropped the cloth back onto the counter and drifted over to the open balcony. She balanced strong elbows on the railings as she took a moment's reprieve. Closing pale lids over amber eyes, Esme allowed the sounds of nature to roll over acute senses; there was a hint of musk and pine in the air, mingled with the damp scent of the ever-predictable rain. She could hear a herd of deer grazing at a clearing to the north-west of the woods, their velvet noses nudging away clumps of dirt as their mouths worked to chew at the dew covered flora. An owl hooted in the distance and leaves rustled against the slight breeze that caressed gentle fingers through the thick trees.

Esme inhaled deeply, letting the forest soothe her frazzled nerves. In spite of this, the motherly vampire's mind had other plans; it drew up a memory that etched itself into the vampire's psyche near 24 hours ago. With the memory came the emotions; one particular recollection sent a shiver down Esme's back. In the many years she had been alive, she had never been subjected to the sound Bella had made when it had sunk in that Alice had left.

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"_ALIIIIIIICE!" _

_The name slashed its way out of Bella's windpipe with such force that the girl half expected the tinge of blood to taint her lips. She ripped herself from Emmett and stole to the door, every cell in her body screaming at her to run after the seer. Two well-muscled arms that locked themselves around her torso prevented her from completing that task. Bella screamed as she writhed and struggled within Emmett's secure grip; it was blatantly obvious that she would have no chance of breaking his hold on her but something in Bella had snapped the minute she saw Alice vanish. _

"_LET ME GO!" _

_Bella was hysterical, bordering on a nervous breakdown as she twisted within the confines of Emmett's trunk-like arms, her legs kicking and flailing uselessly at the burly vampire's shins. She was doing more damage to herself than the vampire; it was like kicking a ton of bricks, and she was barefoot to boot. Bella swung a hand to Emmett's face, her pinky finger making contact with Emmett's nose. There was a small crunch, causing Emmett to wince, not because it hurt but because he knew Bella had just broken her finger. Nevertheless, it did not seem to deter the girl. Mad with grief and hysteria, Bella continued to thrash about violently, her body rapidly exhausting her stock of adrenaline. The adrenaline that was coursing through her veins, however, was only serving to make Bella unreasonable. The girl would not stop her antics, although Emmett could feel each kick and punch lose strength as the seconds ticked by. He debated knocking her unconscious; one gentle tap to the temple would send the girl reeling into darkness. But if he even loosened his hold for even a fraction of a second, he was sure Bella would escape._

_Carlisle solved the vampire's dilemma by stepping forward. There was a flash of metal that glinted off the light; the doctor depressed a tranquilizer filled needle into Bella's arm. The effect was almost immediate; Bella's movements slowed, as if she were suddenly slugging through a swimming pool. She collapsed against Emmett, a low keening sound pouring from her lips. Her face was flushed from exertion and hot tears were evident on both cheeks. She mumbled Alice's name, the word slurring together as her speech became distorted. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Bella slipped into unconsciousness and became a sudden dead weight in Emmett's arms, her limbs hanging limply by her sides. _

_Emmett had breathed a sigh of stark relief but Carlisle warned that with her rapid healing ability, her body would most likely pump out the drug in a few short hours. Hasty preparations were made as Emmett carried a now silent Bella to Alice's room. He volunteered to watch her and nobody objected; Emmett was now the closest thing Bella had._

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The scent of blood jerked Esme back to the present. Perturbed, she sniffed at the air cautiously, shoulders slumping in relief as she detected it to be elk. Then she took another sniff...

And stiffened.

A southerly wind blew over Esme and she was suddenly awash with the overpowering scent of blood. Not just elk this time; bear, deer, mountain lion, even wolf. The air was thick with blood and the beginning of decay.

Esme spun around and nearly collided with Jasper. So drunk on the scent, Esme had failed to hear her son come up to her. Now they struck up a wordless conversation, their eyes locked onto each other as realization and understanding made the gold in their eyes glimmer.

"I'm going to go get her," Jasper intoned. His voice was solemn, though the slight catch in his tone meant that he was struggling to overpower his thirst. It did not help that a second gust of wind swirled the smell of blood more tightly around them. His shoulders visibly tightened.

"No." A new voice flitted over to the pair and both mother and son turned to see Edward walk into the kitchen. His face was determined. "Let me go." His golden dipped eyes implored them to understand. A curt nod from Jasper had Edward springing into action, literally. He bounded onto the balcony railings before pushing off, somersaulting in midair before limber hands shot out to grab at a nearby branch. He backflipped and landed neatly on his heels, not slowing even slightly as he spun around on the spot and began to racing off in the direction of the mingled scent of animal blood.

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Edward ran hard; he was easily the fastest of all the Cullens and proved it by eating up the path, dodging overhead branches and tree stumps with a grace and efficiency of a well-trained hunter. While not the best tracker, that title fell to Jasper, the aroma of blood was so heady and copious that Edward had no problem following the path. It helped that as he ran, the odor of blood grew stronger, until he could taste the coppery tang of it in his mouth. It enticed his taste buds, tantalizing his thirst and seducing a trail down his throat to the point where his stomach seized in tantrum of not having fresh blood to coat its walls. Edward pushed his beast down; now was not about him. It was about his sister. And Edward was going to bring her home in one piece, come hell or high water.

The bronze haired vampire blazed through the woods for a solid two hours before coming to a screeching halt at a particularly scenic clearing. A small brook gurgled happily as it trickled water over little rocks. Wild flowers grew abundant and through the canopy of gently swaying trees, a shaft of moonlight penetrated through, throwing the clearing into a surreal milky white light.

Whilst this background may have seemed beautiful, poetic even, it only made Edward forcibly repress the shiver of fear that crawled down his spine. Because, in the middle of this picturesque setting was something that was in contradiction to all that surrounded it.

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	11. Consequences

**Chapter 11 – Consequences**

Alice ran with a determination that would have made the most seasoned athlete green with envy. Her boots kicked up piles of dirt as she tore through the forest, acting as though the devil itself were hot on her heels. The seer ran blindly, beating a visible path through the vegetation as overhead branches and the odd creeping vine had the misfortune of dangling in her way. They shredded and snapped against the vampire's concrete body, falling limply to trampled shrubbery where they lay broken and resigned to a fate on the forest floor.

The seer paid her scenery no mind, so intent on running away the images that had burned its way into her mind's eye. Had she bothered looking back at all, she would have been startled to see the stark evidence of disaster she had so clearly left in her wake. Instead, Alice continued to score a path through the dark woods, running as hard and as fast as her body would possibly allow.

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The seer had lost track of time; time was of no meaning to a creature that did not sleep and never tired. However, the stillness of the night, the type of stillness that nature could only achieve in its twilight hour, brought the pixie vampire to a sudden screeching halt, inches shy from the Canadian border. For precious few seconds, Alice simply stood under the wash of moonlight, blank eyes unblinking. Then, with a force akin to a nuclear explosion, Bella's memories caught up to her, slamming hard and fast into Alice's skull. They detonated unrelentingly in her mind, churning out image after image of Bella being hurt, bruised, bleeding, broken, punched, smacked, thrown…

Alice dropped to her knees in the soft cold dirt and gripping viciously at either side of her head, she screamed into the onyx black sky. It was a scream so primal, so tortured and savage that the entire forest seemed to shudder and the few smatterings of stars that clung to the inky darkness that was the sky threatened to fall. What nocturnal animals resided in the forest scurried away frantically, seeking the protection of shelter from the hideous scream.

Alice fell onto her side and instinctively curled herself up to a fetal position, tucking her knees under her chin; her hands still entrenched deeply into her hair, nails digging painfully into her scalp. She sobbed drily, wishing for the power, the will, to dig deep into her head with her own fingers in order to wrench out those offending memories that threatened to disease her mind with its cruelness. The seer wanted to reach into her skull to pull and claw until there was nothing left but a hollow chasm. Alas, nothing Alice did would prove successful; even her instinctive outlet to this pain was to shed a flood of tears and this she could not even do. Vampires could not cry.

So the spiky haired vampire turned to the next best thing: she let her beast full reign, unlocking its cage and allowing it full control of her muscles. She watched, almost as if she were detached from her own body, as she unwound from her vulnerable position on the soft forest floor. She felt no emotion save for the rush of adrenaline and the excitement that prelude a hunt. For the second time in a row, the forest would watch as Alice terrorized her way through the foliage, bringing down the forest's resident creatures, leaving a slippery, slick ruby red line of carcasses and blood.

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Edward stood stock still, gauging the scene in front of him. Alice was in front of him. Alice who, under the silvery white moonlight, was to be seen covered head to toe in blood. Her hair was matted, plastered straight onto her hair and the sides of her face; sticky strands coated with blood stuck to her forehead and cheeks. Her face was painted a grotesque mask of red; streaks of the red liquid shooting in every which direction, some lengthening as it dripped downward, courtesy of gravity, others caking and rusting under the cool night air. Her mouth bore the brunt of this as full red lips, layered with several coatings of blood, glistened in the moonlight. His sister's shirt was an undeniable mess, its original color lost under the amount of blood that had soaked into the material.

It was her hands though, that made Edward's beast want to roar with wanton thirst. They were barely recognizable under all that blood. Alice's arms were dipped nearly up to her elbows in blood; truly, it looked as if the pixie vampire were sporting a pair of gloves, gloves made from liquid that was necessary to sustain life. Not one patch of deathly pale skin was visible under the sheet of blood. And blood was everywhere; the source of it lying still and un-breathing by Alice's feet. It was a large elk, or what remained of it. Its stomach was torn open, mercilessly ripped to its seams. The wound was yawning wide, exposing entrails and a jutting ribcage. The little blood left in the carcass, oozed out like dark chocolate, congealing onto the slimy forest floor in dark puddles.

Edward's stomach twisted, in equal parts hunger and revulsion. Hunting animals to sustain themselves was unavoidable, but they had always made sure the animal did not suffer. A quick snap of the neck ended life immediately but this, what Alice did to the poor animal was no act of mercy. She had deliberately tortured it, ripped it apart whilst it still struggled to breathe in one last breath. Its neck was bent at an odd angle and the messy haired vampire could see another gaping wound smiling from its throat, could hear the odd drip, drip of blood. His head began to spin, from hunger or horror, he did not know.

"Eddy…" Alice's slurred speech lanced through his fogged up skull. His eyes betrayed his relief that Alice recognized him but immediately clouded over with concern as the tone of her voice registered with him. He took a hesitant step forward, backtracking almost mid-step when Alice let loose a warning sub-vocalized growl. His hands shot up into the air, in a gesture of surrender.

"Easy, Alice," he soothed. He observed her posture slump from predatory back to...well back to almost drunk. Yes, blood kept them alive but consuming too much blood did not bode well for any vampire. The body can only intake so much, process so much and consuming more than was needed led to a serious case of being blood-drunk. The vampire's body would become sluggish, languid, as it struggled to digest the excess amount of the red liquid. Blood was their life source and energy source; having too much was akin to overcharging a battery; sometimes it would short-circuit the object it was powering. In this case, Alice.

Edward noted the way Alice struggled to stay on her feet, her face schooling into a half-hearted scowl as her momentum was severely being challenged. However, it did not seem to stop her from licking at her lips, where blood still clung abundantly. Again, Edward had to forcibly repress his hungry beast, though he was sure his eyes were now a hollow black. He tried again, making sure to stay stationary.

"Ally, can you hear me?" It was a deliberate use of the seer's nickname but Edward had to use what he had. Being blood-drunk meant that Alice's emotions were also heightened; she could swing rapidly from friendly to deadly in the blink of an eye. "Al?"

The vampire in question snarled suddenly and pounced, only missing Edward by centimeters as her reflexes refused to fully co-operate. Alice landed onto the earth with an undignified thump, skidding slightly before coming to a stop, leaving a slight groove in the ground. Dirt clung to her face and hands, stuck onto the stickiness that was the blood.

"Oh, Ally–" Edward decided to take advantage of his sister's sudden vertigo; he leapt onto her back and quickly grabbed at her arms, twisting them behind her back. Locking his fingers around her wrists, he yanked her upright, ignoring her spitting and growling as he battled against his thirst. From this close, he could practically feel the molecules of iron from the blood dancing on his tongue, jumping on his taste buds in a tantalizing manner. He held his breath, not wanting to aggravate his beast anymore than he was doing, being so close to Alice.

Edward was in the process of slinging Alice onto his back when something burst out from between the trees and knocked the pair sideways into the dirt. The collision was hard enough that Alice flew from his arms, thudding into a particularly thick tree trunk, which creaked and shuddered in protest. Edward himself slid along the ground on his stomach before coming to a stop, inches from the burbling brook. He immediately snapped to his feet, near feral eyes darting around his surroundings looking for his attacker. He moved to cover his sister, who lay against the tree with a confused look on her blood-streaked face when the same hard thing slammed into him again, throwing Edward to the far side of the clearing and into a tree with such force that he felt the back of his head crack open.

Pain bloomed behind his eyes as he sagged down the trunk to land ungracefully onto the floor. He clenched granite hard teeth together as he felt his skull knit itself back together and waited long enough for the curtain of pain to draw back from his sight before bouncing back to the balls of his feet. He looked up in time to see a figure saunter over to Alice and crouched, preparing to race over to his sister's aid when a shockingly strong hand wrapped itself around his neck, grasping so hard that he felt the foundations of his neck crack and his throat to close in on itself.

Edward instinctively reached up with both hands to attempt to pry the offending appendage away from his neck. For his stubbornness, another hand snaked out, yanking one of the bronze haired vampire's hands away and snapping it at the wrist before giving Edward's arm a violent tug. Edward howled in agony as he felt his shoulder dislocate and the skin covering it break open with cracks.

"You continue kickin' up a fuss and we're going to have a problem, son," a husky voice chuckled into his ear. From the corner of his eyes, Edward made out a flash of a moustache and glinting ruby eyes. A scared whimper locked his attention to the other side of the clearing where Alice was currently being strung up by another figure, held up in a similar fashion as Edward. Only Alice wasn't struggling; she was too weak to.

"ALICE!" Edward's yell was one of genuine fear and desperation. They were hurting his sister; Edward could see the terror in her eyes, under the pool of confusion. He did the only thing he could think of and kicked at his attacker's shins, hoping to shatter the kneecaps. Instead, he kicked at thin air; the body behind him suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of him, in a move that would rival Houdini. Edward found himself smashed up against the tree trunk he previously crashed into, feeling the skin on his back splinter and stars to fandango before his eyes.

"I see we don't learn," the new vampire said, calmly. He tightened his grip around Edward's neck, smiling in delight as another series of cracks outlined the edges of where his fingers dug into Edward's skin. Edward watched helplessly as his assailant turned his head to address his companion. "Honey, I've got a live one here! He wiggles like a snapper on a hook!"

The vampire's companion strutted toward the pair, dragging Alice along the ground like a rag doll, paying no heed to when Alice jarred her head on a rock resulting in a sickening crack thundering through the clearing. Edward flinched in response and the vampire who had a firm clutch on his neck, simply grinned maniacally at him, flashing a set of white teeth. His companion came to a slow halt in front of them; the now dim moonlight still strong enough to illuminate a womanly figure. She released Alice's arm; it flopped uselessly onto the ground. Something in the way the female vampire looked at Edward had him involuntarily pressing further into the tree.

The female's lips lifted in a saucy smile. She reached up and traced an imaginary line down the length of Edward's cheek. "My, but aren't you handsome," she cooed. Then she sent his head spinning sideways with a backhanded slap. "You took something that belongs to me." A disapproving cough burped out from the male vampire. "Oops, sorry darlin'. Us." The last word was dispatched to Edward's motionless body.

Understanding dawned on Edward's face, rising like the sun over the horizon until his blackened eyes shined with the new knowledge. He tongued his chipped lip. "You're Bella's parents," he choked. The fear that brewed inside of him intensified to a boiling point, bubbling up his crushed windpipe. Below him, he heard Alice mewl.

The female vampire knelt down, having heard the utterance as well. "Yes, sweetie pie." She grabbed a fistful of Alice's hair and whipped her head back with a nauseating snap. The smile she bestowed upon Alice was anything but kind though the disturbingly motherly fashion in which she touched Alice's dirt and blood stained cheek would argue otherwise. "I'm Bella's mommy. Renée." She rose to her feet, hauling Alice onto hers by the hold she still had on her hair. "And Renée–" Ruby eyes glittered with malevolent intent. "Wants–" She jerked her head at her husband, who obligingly moved Edward and himself aside. "Her _daughter_ back!" She punctuated the last word by sending Alice careening into the tree behind her.

Alice moaned, her entire back feeling as though it had been split open with a meat cleaver. A shower of bark and leaves rained down over her, settling in her hair and latching onto the smears of blood that was painted all over her. She fell to the ground on all fours, arms shaking with the exertion of holding up her weight. Renée solved her dilemma by dropping a kick to her stomach; the sudden momentum sent Alice rolling through the air, landing a few feet away in a tangled heap of limbs. She did not move.

"ALICE!" Edward had had enough. Running on his last reserve of adrenaline, he head-butted Bella's father in the face. There was a rather satisfying crunch as Edward's mark hit home; he broke the vampire's nose. The vice around his neck loosened and he used this window of a scant few seconds to spin around and land a series of punches to his opponent. His blows were precise; deafening explosions echoed throughout the clearing as his fists collided with rock hard skin. Renée's husband was forced back with each hit and though he dodged and retaliated, Edward's arms flew forward so fast that they were virtual blurs. Just when it seemed as if the bronze haired vampire had the upper hand, Renée slipped up behind him and touched his neck.

"Stop." It was not a request. And Edward found himself freezing, his arms falling obediently to his sides as his muscles responded to the scolding tone. There was a corner of his mind however, that was screaming, banging against the base of his skull, asking him what the hell he was doing. He ignored it, needing to placate the vampire that had told him to stop.

Renée flitted around to stand in front of Edward. "There's a good boy," she trilled. She delighted at the blank look on the boy's face and blew him a kiss. "You're good to go, officer." She looked over her shoulder at her husband. He smirked and nodded, jerking his nose back into alignment as he made his way slowly over to his wife.

Tomorrow was going to be a very good day.

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**A/N** – I tinkered with the mechanics of how vampires function slightly. The whole "blood-drunk" thing is something I thought would be interesting. FYI!


	12. Special Delivery

**Chapter 12 – Special Delivery**

**A/N** – Special shout out to Avarenda for helping me with naming Renée's power. Thanks!

Bella was perched on the hood of Emmett's jeep, her knees tucked securely under her chin. Dangling from one hand was a rapidly cooling bacon and egg sandwich; its edges littered with miniscule bites. Bella breathed out a forlorn sigh before flexing seemingly stiff arm muscles to bring the sandwich to her lips. she winced slightly as the morsel scraped against her tongue like sandpaper before grating down her throat like a stubbornly reluctant lump.

"Stop sounding so sad, Lil' Bit." Emmett's voice was muffled given his current position under the vehicle. He slid out, tossing the wrench he gripped into the toolbox beside him before climbing to his feet. "Can I have a bite?" he teased, indicating to the sandwich.

"Bella rolled her eyes, despite herself. "You don't eat, Emmett," the brunette pointed out.

"I know. But it got you talking didn't it?" The husky vampire tossed her a full-fledged grin, full of mischief and boyish charm as he wiped his hands on a cloth.

Bella deposited her mostly uneaten meal onto a plate that sat obediently next to her. Dusting the few crumbs that clung to her jeans, she proceeded to slide off the jeep when Emmett dropped a gentle hand on her shoulder. Regardless of her comfort with Emmett, the sudden touch still caused her to forcibly repress a flinch.

"Don't worry, Bella." Emmett' voice project the sincerity of his convictions even as he ignored the way Bella suddenly tensed up underneath his palm. "Everything's going to be okay."

Bella ground her teeth together. "No, it won't," she replied harshly. She gestured jerkily to the window where a weak wash of sunlight flowed through. "Edward's been gone for hours. It's now dawn, Emmett." She tugged a frustrated hand through tousled chestnut colored hair. "Something's obviously not right."

"You're damn right, something's not right," a new voice announced, full of acrimony. Rosalie sauntered in the garage, her trademark scowl sitting firmly on her lips. She came to a stop in front of the pair. "Ever since you got here, our lives have been one big mess!"

"Rose…" Emmett shot his girl a warning glance that went about ignored as Rosalie set about making her displeasure known.

"YOU are what's not right," the blonde vampire snapped. "You come in here, disrupt my family, put us in unnecessary danger and all for what? For your _safety_?" She glared dangerously at Bella, daring her to disagree. "You're a coward."

"Rosalie, stop!" Emmett grabbed her arm and pulled her back away from Bella. Her glowered at his wife. "That's enough!" His voice had taken on a gravelly tone; it was one step short of a growl. "She didn't ask to be rescued, we stumbled upon her remember? We _chose_ to pick her up. We _chose_ to bring her home. And now, we're _choosing_ to protect her."

"My mistake," Rosalie retorted icily. She shook off Emmett's hold. "What is she to me? To us?"

"Family," Emmett replied simply. He knew in his heart that Bella would be a part of his family; he could feel it in his bones.

"She's not _my_ family." Rosalie remained stubborn. She swung around, wavy blonde locks flicking over her shoulder in a graceful maneuver as she stomped out of the garage.

Emmett sighed and shook his head, loving and cursing his wife's stubborn streak. He spared his departing wife a fleeting glance before focusing back on Bella. The girl simply sat on the hood of the jeep, a hollow, empty expression in her eyes. Emmett immediately shuffled forward, fearing that Bella was retreating into herself. It had been no easy task in extracting the brunette from Alice's room; Emmett had briefly considered barging in and hoisting the girl over his shoulder before dismissing the thought. Bella was still skittish at best; sudden moves like that would surely spook her. Instead, the burly vampire opted for emotional blackmail, citing that Alice had gone through so much trouble in taking care of her and now she was throwing all of the seer's efforts away. Emmett felt horrible as the words shot out of his mouth but it resulted in coaxing the girl out of the room.

Esme had a plate ready for her as she meekly followed Emmett down the stairs; the matriarch had pushed the sandwich laden plate into her hands with instructions to eat before retreating to her study. Carlisle had been called away to the hospital after an urgent phone call. Jasper had to hunt and since Rosalie would refuse to let Bella tag along after her, Emmett was assigned the task. He took it cheerfully, leading Bella into the garage and ensuring she was comfortable before getting down to work on his jeep. An hour or so passed in snipped silence, disturbed only when Emmett would ask the odd question and Bella would be forced to reciprocate.

Now, Emmett saw the haunted girl start to crawl back over Bella's features. He reached out and ruffled her hair. "Hey, c'mon. Let's go kill some aliens huh? What do you say?"

Bella mentally shook the cobwebs from her head. She knew she couldn't spend her time moping around and she really didn't need any more hostility and conflict between herself and the Cullen clan. Therefore, she bestowed Emmett a watery smile before allowing the husky vampire to haul her to her feet. Maybe a few mindless hours of game playing would take her mind off things.

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Edward stared at his feet as if he had never seen them before. There was this tiny voice, in the far corner of his mind that was screaming blue bloody murder, asking him why he was he was leading Bella's parents toward the Cullen house. The voice shrieked, begged, rattled at the confines of its cages but did not have enough sway over Edward's actions. Nevertheless, it was definitely making its presence known, enough so that Edward acknowledged its presence and felt the prick of conflict.

"Aren't you just simply delicious?" Renee massaged the back of Edward's neck even as she kept a firm hold on him. She leaned over his shoulder to coo in his ear. "You're taking us home right?"

"Yes," Edward responded, his voice a flat monotone note that made Alice's blood run cold.

Alice was being led along by Charlie, who had, in a moment of humor, handcuffed Alice's hands behind her back. The handcuffs were useless on a vampire of course but a not so subtle warning that should she try anything "funny", Edward's head would be used as a football. The pixie vampire clenched her teeth together, shaking her head slightly as a drop of water trickled over her eye. Charlie had tossed her into a nearby lake, for kicks as well as to clean the blood off Alice. He was only partially successful. Holding Alice under water for minutes at a time did not manage to leech all the blood off her clothing and as a result, the copper tang of blood still wafted off the spiky haired vampire. Bits of the now dried liquid still clung to strands of hair and Alice could feel the heaviness of it. After the initial effects of being blood-drunk wore off, all the seer felt was guilt and shame. She had put her and her brother in this current situation because she had been unable to help. Now her family was going to pay the price.

"Don't worry, little girl," Charlie drawled. He aimed a kick at Alice's back, sending her sprawling into the dirt. Without stopping, he stooped down to pick her up, setting her roughly back onto her feet, almost dragging her along as he kept one eye on his wife and the seer's brother. "Got some big things planned for you." He smiled down at her his eyes alight with malevolent intent. He set a big hand over her shoulder and squeezed, his manic grin widening as a crack sounded off.

Alice bit down on her tongue to combat the pain. She refused to give him the pleasure of her suffering. She simply closed her eyes and waited until the pain abated and her shoulder healed. She realized very early on that Charlie and Renée were newborns, their physical strength was astounding. They also had powers, unfortunately. Renée's was obvious. Her power of compulsion was why Edward was now leading them straight home. However, it seemed as if she had to be in contact with her victim. Alice kept that tidbit in mind. Charlie seemed to be able to mask his scent and presence. This made him undetectable which was why Edward had been unprepared when the former police officer jumped him.

Carlisle had theorized that a vampire's special ability stemmed from their human personalities. Therefore, in accordance with that theory, it would make sense that Charlie would be able to mask his presence. Being a cop meant that vigorous training was undertaken to ensure that the individual would be able to remain as inconspicuous as possible in the presence of perpetrators. As for Renée, maybe she was a very persuasive human. The vampire in question suddenly trilled out a sentence that would have made Alice's heart skip a beat if it were still beating.

"We're home!" Renée sang the last word with unbridled glee. She turned to her husband. "Let's play."

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"There, no there! _There!_" Emmett was getting wound up; Bella's head was obviously not in the game and they had already been defeated twice. Emmett sighed in resignation and hit the pause button before turning to face the brunette. "Did you not _see_ the big huge green blob coming at me with that big huge gun blaster?" He jiggled a knee as he impatiently waited for an answer.

"Sorry, Emmett," Bella mumbled, her eyes distant as she stared out the window.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Earth to Bella." He waved a hand in front of the girl's face. "Lil' Bit?"

Bella snapped back to reality and scowled. "Of all the nicknames…" she snarked. "Why that one?"

'_Because it fits,'_ Emmett thought smugly. To Bella he answered, "First one that came to mind." His ever-present grin was tugging at his lips. "What would you suggest?"

"How about _bitch_?" Rosalie offered as she descended the stairs.

"That's _enough_, Rosalie!" Esme came down behind her and towered over her, her stern motherly expression pasted on her face. "You're not helping, Rose," Esme berated. "I know that the situation is tense right now and whilst your mood is understandable, please try to be more considerate." She reached out to touch her daughter's arm. "There's no need for name calling."

Rosalie sighed in exasperation. "Tell me you don't blame Bella for Edward and Alice disappearing or for the fact that her totally psychotic parents are probably out there right now, bidding their time, waiting to strike. We're all in danger because of her!" The blonde's voice had taken on a pious edge as she tried to make her adopted mother understand her plight.

Esme opened her mouth, ready to let loose a lecture that would pierce through Rosalie's stubbornness. However, she was interrupted when a heavy mass slammed against the front door, sending it flying off its hinges. The door slid down the hallway before coming to a spinning stop at Esme and Rosalie's feet. Both parties gasped as they recognized the body on top of the door. Edward was sprawled on its surface, his limbs twisted and multiple cracks adorning his face. In addition, standing on the front porch was Alice. Alice who was flanked by two vampires, one of which had a potentially fatal grip on the seer's neck.

"Hi!' Renée chirped. She was positively tingling at the looks of horror on the house occupants' faces. A cruel smile cut its way across her face as Bella and a heavily muscular vampire came into view; the vampire trying to keep Bella behind him. "Hi, honey," Renée called out, chuckling as she saw Bella flinch. "Guess who's coming for dinner?"

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	13. Decisions, Decisions

**Chapter 13 – Decisions, Decisions**

**A/N** – Guys, I'm so sorry for the late update. I had a copy of this chapter a few days ago but my computer went nuts, shut itself down and deleted my file! I was about to go mad because I lost the entire chapter and for the life of me I couldn't re-write it. Now I'm super paranoid, saving my document every 5 minutes. It ain't pretty just how paranoid I've gotten. Anyway, here's the super late new chapter. Sorry for the delay!

Bella felt as though she were drowning; all of her senses were either heightened or threatening to shut down. Her head was filled with a strange buzzing; it was as though a hive of bees had taken up residence in her skull. Blood pounded in her ears at such a high velocity that she was forced to hear nothing else but the sound of it drumming an angry beat against her eardrums. Her vision was tunneling, darkness creeping in from either side even though her lids fluttered rapidly to keep her sight intact. Her lungs had also chosen the most inadequate moment to stop working; they seem to have lost their ability to inflate and deflate, unable to pull in air that Bella suddenly desperately needed. Her throat worked, despite the fact that it seemed to have closed in on itself, but could not suck in a breath. Lack of oxygen caused her vision to blur further, with gray dots beginning to tango in front of her eyes. Her legs wobbled dangerously with the effort of sustaining her weight. Bella made twin fists, digging nails painfully into the palm of her hands as she forced her lungs and tightened throat to co-operate.

A sweet gust of air finally slid down Bella's throat, followed by another and another until the girl was almost gulping them down greedily. Then she began puffing them back out, slowly at first until she was panting harsh shallow breaths in rapid succession. It was blatantly obvious that Bella was close to hyperventilating, though fainting was a close second option. She instinctively leaned back as a panic attack reared its ugly head...and fell against Emmett's concrete bulk. Bella swallowed a scream as she grappled with her sudden reality. She forced herself to remember that the vampires standing by her side were actually there to _protect_ her. She shivered and flinched when Emmett dropped a meaty paw on her shoulder, subtly squeezing so that she would acknowledge his comfort. Even though her more primal instincts were screeching at her to bolt, to move away from Emmett, her feet stayed miraculously rooted to the ground. Besides, Emmett and the Cullens were not the ones she had to worry about. Bella shrank back as the object of her nightmares spoke.

"Bella!" Renée's sickly sweet voice rang through the air. She blew her daughter a mocking kiss. "Hello, baby girl. Miss me?" She snickered at her own sarcasm and briefly wrung Alice's neck when she tried to move. "I didn't say you could move, bitch." Bella flinched at the tone; it was almost disconcerting how fast Renée's voice switched from sweet to malevolent.

"What do you want?" Esme had stepped forward, speaking for her family. Her eyes were a steely gold, unwavering and blank with a quiet vehemence that seemed so out of character for the normally gentle vampire. The matriarch's shoulders were rigid with tension, her spine ramrod straight.

Renée let loose a girlish laugh that was akin to nails on a chalkboard. She tightened her hold on Alice's neck, uncaring of how the seer flinched under the sudden pressure. "You know what I want." There was no trace of playfulness in her tone now.

"You're not taking Bella," Esme replied, her voice low with conviction. She edged slightly toward the girl, her intention to protect the girl clear. "What you did to her when you were human was unforgivable. What you did to her as vampires is simply inhumane." The note of disgust was strikingly evident in her voice, and Esme made no effort to conceal it.

Renée's peel of laughter clotted the hallway. "I've got news for you, mama bear: we're NOT humans."

"That doesn't mean we have to act like savages." Esme's eyes were as cold as any of the Cullens had ever seen. "But you were obviously worthless as humans so it was probably too much to ask for you to be civil as vampires."

Renée's eyes narrowed. In one swift move she flicked her wrist, sending Alice careening into the doorframe; bits of plaster and wood splintered and rained onto the ground. Alice's groan of discomfort echoed, adding to the symphony of chaos. Renée bent and picked the petite vampire up by her hair. She yanked Alice's head back, revealing cracks that ran down her temple to the corner of her lip. "Piss me off again and I'll TWIST something off." To emphasis her point, she snapped Alice's head to one side, not enough to break her neck but enough to cause a map of cracks to appear on the side.

Esme's hands formed fists, her arm muscles bunching out in sinewy lines. She semi-consciously took a step forward, halting mid-step when Renée forced Alice's head to a severely uncomfortable angle. The motherly vampire backed up, a rampant of emotions flitting over her face like multiple freight trains.

"Good vampire," Renée mocked. She took a moment to assess the Cullens, her eyes regarding Emmett who was practically holding Bella in a death grip. Her eyes skittered over to a beautiful blonde whose eyes were curiously stoic though the scowl twisting her lips would indicate otherwise. There was an air of disdain about her and Renée delighted in the knowledge that it was directed at Bella. She finally allowed her gaze to drift over to the prone figure that was Edward. The messy haired vampire was lying still on the remains of the door, his limbs a twisted, tangled mess. She let loose a small chuckle. It was going to hurt realigning those bones. She hoped to hear him scream when they did.

"Alright-y!" Renée announced, disturbingly chipper. "Let's negotiate." She jerked her chin toward the lump that was Edward. "I gave you back one and I'll give this one-" She shook Alice as if she were nothing but a rag doll. "-IF you give Bella to me." She paused and looked over her shoulder, where Charlie stood vigil. When he nodded in approval, her face split into a wide grin. She turned back around to stare down the Cullens.

Nobody spoke. The atmosphere had turned impossibly tense at Renée's ultimatum; it hung over each Cullen's heads like a death sentence that mocked their indecision and silence. Time seemed to stand still as Esme, Emmett and Rosalie became perfect imitations of stone statues. One could almost hear the _tick tick_ of the non-existent clock.

"Decide!" Charlie barked finally. He wedged himself into the doorframe next to his wife and wrenched Alice into his arms. He grabbed Alice's hand and snapped it over his knee. Alice's scream ricocheted off the walls before it cut into her family members, slicing open wounds that bled out rage and fear. A low keening sound could be heard from the far corner; Bella had dropped to her knees at Emmett's feet, her entire frame heaving and shaking violently. It was as though Alice's pain infused yelp had been the last straw. Bella hugged her knees to her chest and began a slow rocking, her eyes glazed over and unreachable.

Alice gritted her teeth. Hard. She chanced a glance over to where Bella sat hunched over, rocking in a disturbing rhythm that spoke of despair and absence. There was something about the way Bella sat that sent chills down Alice's spine. It was as though the seer were seeing a shell, not a person. Pain exploded all the way up her forearm as her accelerated healing knitted back the broken bone, though not without consequence. She felt each line of marrow and tissue reattached itself and it seemed all she could feel; the pain was like razor blades gnawing at her nerves. Alice forced herself to will the feeling down, needing what was left of her sanity to put her plan into action.

"No deal." The pixie vampire's voice, though melodious and achingly beautiful to hear, was dull with agony. However, it was still clear enough to cut through the tenseness that swirled inside the house. She winced when Renée backhanded her, feeling her lip crack open before healing. "Don't do it," she croaked out. Her voice begged her family to understand her sacrifice. She locked eyes with her adopted mother; Esme's gaze was tortured, the anguish stamped right across her face. "Please," Alice whispered. Bella was the one that mattered. Moreover, if dying meant that Bella would be okay, Alice was willing to take the plunge.

"Don't do it," Renée mimicked. She aimed a well placed kicked at Alice's shins, smiling in serene satisfaction as something cracked and the seer screamed again. "Don't test our patience," she warned. "Give us Bella."

"No." It was Rosalie who spoke. She could feel the stares of surprise from her mate and mother. Surprise that she would be the first to voice her decision since she had never concealed her contempt for Bella. Nevertheless, she had seen the look in Alice's eye. More than anything, more than her life and how her potential death would affect the Cullens, Alice wanted Bella safe. And Rosalie could understand that kind of sacrifice. She would do it in a heartbeat for Emmett. "We don't negotiate with scum."

Charlie growled, deep rumbling that emerged from the depths of his throat. He turned suddenly and tossed Alice into a nearby tree. A thunderous _**crrrrrack!**_ sounded out followed by a loud thump as gravity shot Alice to the ground, her granite hard body colliding mercilessly with the solid floor. Charlie was there to collect her, moving so fast that he was a virtual blur. He picked Alice back up and pitched her to the side of the house where she smashed through the wall, threatening the stability of the foundation of the house. Again, Charlie was there to pick her up, this time flinging her toward his wife. He watched as Renée purposely sidestepped, allowing Alice to crash into the now battered doorframe. Both ruby-eyed vampires were disappointed when Alice made not so much as a peep.

"This is getting boring," Renée mock whined. She slammed a boot down onto Alice's back and applied pressure, leaning her body weight down until she felt something give way under her boot. This time Alice could no longer hold back her cry of pain; it crawled out of her mouth in a series of tortured shrieks.

"Stop hurting her!" Bella seemed to have snapped out of her catatonic slump. Suddenly animated, she jumped to her feet as if electrocuted. She wrung her hands, staring helplessly at Alice who stared back, eyes imploring Bella to stand down. Not this time. "I'll come with you," Bella offered. She ignored the gasps of horror from the Cullens. "Just please, _please_ stop hurting her," the brunette begged. Bella was sure she would go insane should she be submitted to hear another anguished yell from Alice. She could feel her losing battle with sanity; each scream had raked such hurt down each nerve ending that it felt as though fire were racing under her skin. Her entire body flinched with each cry; each and every sound was like a whip to her skin. She could take the physical pain, it was the emotional ones from Alice's agony that she could not bear. With each agonized cry, she could feel her sanity slip through her fingers like it were a satin sheet. She began to take a step forward when Emmett reached out to seize her hand.

"Bella." Emmett's eyes were shot through with black, less from hunger and more from having to watch his baby sister get tortured. His hulking frame was quivering with the effort of containing his suppressed anger. "Stay here."

Bella locked eyes with the husky vampire. "Let me go," she whispered. She shook off Emmett's vice-like grip, knowing he would let go or else risk hurting her. She jerked her arm away as he attempted to grab her again. "Don't." She squared her shoulders as she turned to face her fears. "Let her go," Bella commanded. Her voice never shook; it rang out strong and proud. In her heart, she knew she was doing the right thing. She refused to meet Alice's gaze but could feel the shock and disbelief emanating from the onyx haired vampire. Bella knew that risking one last glance at Alice would break her resolve. Instead, she looked straight into her mother's burning red eyes; for Bella it was staring death straight in the face.

"Bella!" Alice was shouting her name, each letter filled to the brim with the seer's distress at the girl's decision. This was not how this was supposed to unfold. Alice felt as though she were about to burst out of her skin at the craziness that had become her life. "Bella, you don't know what you're doing! Bella!" She implored the girl to look at her, to turn those mesmerizing chocolate depths that were Bella's eyes onto her own caramel ones. But Alice's cries had fallen on deaf ears. Bella would not even turn in her direction, her entire body facing south. "BELLA!" Alice screamed, desperation now coloring her voice. The name tore out from her throat, from the bottom of her soul. Alice had never known such helplessness. Never felt as useless as she did now. "BELLA!"

"Simmer down, goddamn it!" Charlie bit out. He motioned a nod at his wife and Renée blurred forward, snatching Bella up quicker than the Cullens could blink. At the same time, Charlie hauled Alice to her feet, kicking her up by nudging his boot underneath her and shooting her up into the air with his kick. Whilst Alice seemed to float in mid-air for a nanosecond, Charlie finished up with a roundhouse kick to the seer's ribs, cracking a good few even as he sent the petite vampire spinning through the air and into her family members. The Cullens crashed into each other, falling over like bowling pins and this was the advantage the Swans needed to make a break for it.

Charlie swiped Bella, who was quiet throughout the commotion, having retreated into herself, into a firefighter's carry. Trusting his handy talent of masking his tracks and presence, he made off with his wife into the cover of the woods. Only to come to a screeching stop as two blonde haired vampires stepped onto their path, murderous intent flashing from their eyes.

Jasper and Carlisle were home.

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	14. The Final Showdown

**Chapter 14 – The Final Showdown**

**A/N** – I seem to be in one jam after another. I had to fly halfway across the world for a family emergency. A 24 hour flight did not do wonders for my muse. Hence not being able to finish, let alone update the next chapter. But here it is. Finally. I haven't proof read it though so I bet there are a ton of typos and spelling errors. I'll fix them when I get back home. Again, sorry for the delay. Enjoy.

Jasper bounded over a massive moss-covered boulder, his movements sleek and graceful, as they were predatory. Eyes the color of pitch roamed the forest, intelligent and alert though they were no match for his sense of smell. The former soldier picked up the faint trace of deer; the scent of fresh blood, alive with heat and dusted with the tangy taste of iron, hung onto a tailwind that blew straight at Jasper. He took a precursory sniff and it was enough for his beast to roar with wanton need. Hunger clawed at his belly, jagged nails scraping over his stomach walls. The unbearable thirst scratched at his desert dry throat, causing a burning sensation that refused to be ignored. The blonde haired vampire suppressed a growl though it rumbled within the confines of his chest. Seven miles east; Jasper used a jutting tree root as leverage to jump into the air where his hands grabbed an overhead branch. Swinging lithely, he twisted sideways, planted both booted feet onto the tree trunk and pushed off, somersaulting twice in the air before torpedoing off the path and past two gnarly trees where he forward tucked and landed neatly on his feet. Without a moment's pause, Jasper began a sprint that rivaled a cheetah's, his lanky frame shooting forward, dodging tree branches and roots.

The former soldier arrived at a clearing, his boots coming to a halt without so much as a sound. Shrouded behind a wall of bushes, his coal black eyes burned out from his face as he surveyed his prey. The deer were oblivious, too busy grazing at the sweet grass that was enriched with dew and moisture from the consistent precipitation. Their mouths worked, slanting sideways as they pulled stalks of grass into their mouths, chewing contently. Jasper's body lowered into a crouch, his knees bent. He gave the deer no hint nor warning as he sprang forth, emerging through the bushes like an elegant panther, a snarl bursting from pulled back lips. He landed right on target, leeching himself to a particularly large deer and snapping her neck viciously sideways before the creature could swallow what had become her last meal. Rock hard teeth latched itself onto the side of the creature's broken neck and ripped through skin and muscle; blood starburst through the tears, gushing in torrents into Jasper's hungry mouth. The red liquid, so rich with life and sweet with adrenaline flushed down Jasper's throat, soothing the despicable ache. He practically purred in genuine relief as the blood traveled down his esophagus before settling to the bottom of his empty stomach. His beast lapped at the offering, greedily sucking at the precious liquid, allowing it to sooth its ragged nerves.

However, one deer was not enough to satisfy. Jasper tossed the drained deer aside and scanned the clearing, his mouth painted a grotesque red. He ignored the carcass, which had a gaping hole at the side of its neck; sinew and muscle hanging off in shreds, a dark abyss yawning from the tattered skin. But Jasper paid the carcass no mind; he had already spotted his next quarry across the clearing. Deer were not particularly smart animals; they scattered but never far enough. Jasper tore a determined path through the grass, leapt and bore down on another deer, this one a smidgen smaller. Again, he yanked at the deer's neck, twisting it to its side. The bone shattered, the animal breathed in its last breath. Jasper's head ducked down, mouth already infused to the deer's neck, teeth gnashing through the corded muscles that lay under the furred skin. Blood sprang forth spitting into Jasper's eager mouth, bouncing over taste buds that jiggled in primal delight. The blonde vampire suckled at the wound he made, swallowed intermittently, his tongue randomly peeking out to lick residue droplets of blood. His cheeks caved with the effort of his frenzied feed and his hands worked furiously, squeezing at the deer's sides, coaxing as much blood as he could to the open wound. Finally, when there was no more blood to be had, Jasper released his hold on the second deer carcass; it fell limply to the floor with a soft thud.

Jasper sat on his haunches, allowing the initial giddiness that resulted from feeding, fade. He licked at his lips, cleaning the blood off almost absent-mindedly. Finally, when the blood he inhaled settled comfortably into his veins, he stood. The forest was quiet and Jasper indulged in the serenity of his surroundings. Eyes now the color of molten gold scanned his premises, taking in the lush greenery. He sighed, content and full then turned to make his trek back to the house. He began a slow jog, enjoying the mish mash of forest smells that clung to the atmosphere and the way the ground tilted and sagged beneath his feet. It did not take Jasper long to see the house loom in the distance and he started to quicken his pace when he was suddenly assaulted with a barrage of emotions: despair, rage, pain, fear. There was a lot of fear; it seeped through the air, snaking and curling like a cobra waiting to strike. Jasper stopped mid-run and scaled a nearby tree, the slippery moss having no effect on the vampire as he expertly climbed high enough to observe. Perched on a sturdy branch, he easily dug into the tree trunk for support as his eyes took in the scene in front of him.

There were two strangers standing on the front porch. Correction, there were two _enemies_. Jasper's military trained mind noted the distinction by the way one of them held Alice. He choked down a guttural growl as the male threw Alice toward Jasper, bit down a wince as Alice hit the tree with a thud that would have broken many bones had she been human and resisted the urge to make his presence known by taking down the moustached vampire as he blurred forward, picked Alice up and threw her through the front wall of the house.

Jasper's nails burrowed deep into his palms, crescent shaped dents appearing and disappearing with each squeeze of his hand. He forced a calming breath down his throat, unnecessary as the action was. Then he pulled out his cell phone, sent a quick message to Carlisle and clicked his cell phone shut. He continued watch, grimacing as Bella's voiced out decision drifted over to tickle his ears. His muscles grew tenser and tenser until each bunch stood out starkly in dipped planes under his shirt as he continued to watch the female snatch Bella and the male kick Alice into the rest of the Cullens. A familiar scent drifted to his nostrils, and he dropped lightly from his perch atop the tree, onto the path of the two vampires that were making off with Bella. At the same time, Carlisle shot forth from beneath the foliage to Jasper's right, his shirt collar askew and his normally impeccably sweptback hair, falling in tuffs over his forehead. Without glancing at each other, they shared a silent communication as they both turned honeyed eyes, torqued up with rage, onto the intruders.

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Charlie slanted a gaze sideways toward his wife; Renée simply rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with the two blonde haired vampires that stood in their way. She sniffed haughtily...and the smell of Bella's blood sank into her senses. She growled and shifted, an unseen force pulling her toward the brunette that was currently slung over Charlie's shoulders like a sack of flour. Bella's blood sang strongly, pulsing beneath pale skin. Its call was siren and Renée was helpless to resist. She jogged forward, her movements blurry in light of how her vampire agility allowed her to move so quickly and had her teeth clamped down over Bella's wrist before the three vampires could move.

"No!" Charlie was forced to drop Bella, barely acknowledging Renée following Bella to the ground, her mouth fused to the girl's wrist, as he needed both hands to block Carlisle's attack. He slammed both upturned palms onto the doctor's chest, shoving him back. Carlisle snarled, the sneer so unbecoming on the stoic doctor's face. He skidded back, his dress shoes creating two parallel grooves in the soft ground. Grinding to a halt, he charged back forward, sidestepping as he blocked a forward punch from the former cop, then using Charlie's outstretched arm to toss him into the air. Charlie flew into the fat trunk of a nearby tree, which groaned in protest. He was up on his feet and running headlong into Carlisle before he could fully hit the ground. The doctor was ready, leg striking out to kick Charlie's feet out from under him. However, the movement caused his arms to pull back, leaving his torso exposed. Charlie ducked the kick, spun and side kicked his boot straight into Carlisle's diaphragm. An ominous crack echoed, Carlisle grimaced in pain, feeling two of his ribs break.

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Jasper backpedaled the second he heard the skin on Bella's tear and blood spurt forth. The smell of it smoked up into the air, cloaking all other smell that made up the forest. Jasper stopped breathing as his back collided with a tree trunk. His hands wound behind him, gripping both sides of the tree until he felt the wood crunch beneath his palms. He fought despondently against the bloodlust that welled up inside him like a tsunami that threatening to break its waves over the thinly veiled wall of control that Jasper was desperately clinging to. He didn't need to see that his eyes were rapidly draining its caramel hue, replacing the warm gold with hungry black. His fingers dug deeper into the wood; at the rate he was going, he was going to snap the trunk in half. He watched through a cloud of red as Carlisle and Charlie battled, Charlie clearly having the upper hand as his police academy training gave him the needed advantage. His eyes skittered over to where Renée was hunched over a prone Bella, her lips wrapped around her daughter's wrist. Jasper could make out the thin trickle of blood that leaked from the corner of the dirty blonde vampire's lips, could hear the _glug glug_ of Bella's heart slow down with each suck. He gritted his teeth, biting down hard on the inside of his cheek. Then he pushed forth and pounced, heading straight for Renée. However, though he made his mark, he did not calculate in the vice like grip Renée had on Bella. As he shoved Renée away, her body sliding against the soft ground, her teeth violently ripped out of Bella's wrist, peeling down a thick strip of skin. The hold Renée's hand had on Bella had tightened upon Jasper's collision into her, in an attempt to keep Bella to her. As a result, she shattered the girls' wrist bone, enticing a scream from Bella that snapped at Jasper's heartstrings.

Bella rolled sideways, the combination of her broken wrist and the feeling as though acid had been injected into her veins, making her crazy with pain. She screamed aloud, feeling the venom race down her veins, chewing at her nerves with razor sharp teeth that was intent on making Bella the most miserable she had in her life. When the venom spread further into her bloodstream, Bella let loose a blood curdling shriek that sent a flock of birds screeching from beneath a canopy of tree leaves. She curled up into a fetal position, holding her broken wrist, the flap of skin, torn from her wrist dangling limply as she tucked her knees into her chest. Another scream ripped itself out from the bottom of Bella's throat; the venom was spreading rapidly and it seemed to have reached the brunette's skull. It seeped in, gnawing at her brain, stripping her of conscious thought. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, darkness already beginning to wrap Bella up in a cocoon of unconsciousness. But the intense heat at the base of her wrist, an inferno of acid and fire, refused to allow Bella the refuge of fainting. It burned and flared, sending intense shockwaves of pain up Bella's arm. Bella's prolonged scream of unadulterated agony vibrated through the forest, making forest animals and plants alike quiver at the horrid wailing.

Jasper heard all this through dulled ears. He forced himself to concentrate, on everything and anything _but_ the smell and sight of Bella's blood pooling in front of him. He spared Carlisle a fleeting glance. "Carlisle!" The name came out as a gravelly roar. "Swap!" The former's soldier's entire lanky frame was shaking with the effort of not falling to ground to lap up the blood that dripped so generously from Bella's abused wrist. He blocked an uppercut from Renée, who attempted to sneak up behind him, grabbed her wrist and threw her toward the house. "**NOW**!" In synchronized unison, Jasper blurred sideways as Carlisle ran past him after having managed to lure Charlie deeper into the forest, away from where Bella was curled. Jasper leapt, using the momentum to propel his body into Charlie's. His senses cleared as the stench of Bella's blood thinned, though it still permeated the air. Nevertheless, the meager distance was enough for Jasper to concentrate. He charged forward, his leg whipping out, slashing viciously through the air, only to connect solidly with the side of Charlie's face. A thunderous boom rang out as two granite hard limbs crashed against the other.

Charlie's head whipped back against the force of Jasper's kick. He felt a deep crack emerge on his cheek, felt the pain of it as his skin began stitching back together. The feeling only fueled his anger. He felt his mind blank, and his muscle memory kick into place. All of his police academy training were kicked into high gear. But as he went at it with Jasper, he noted that the blonde vampire had a combat skills that could only come from law enforcement. He smirked. A worthy opponent. A flurry of punches and kicks flew from Jasper but Charlie dodged and blocked each one. He observed closely for an opening but Jasper was good, almost to the point where he could predict Charlie's next move.

"You're experienced," Charlie noted. His forearm rose, blocking a potentially deadly punch to his throat. He used the arm to spin to the left, smashing his knuckles into Jasper's nose. Jasper snarled, feeling his nose break. He did not wait for it to heal. Instead, he tucked and rolled, one leg shooting out to connect with Charlie's knee. He sprung up upon hearing the kneecap shatter and grabbed hold of both of the former cop's arms, intent on yanking them off. However, despite Charlie's sudden handicap, he head butted Jasper, releasing another clap of thunder. Jasper felt the cracks yawn open on his forehead, deep trenches running down to his eyebrow. He grimaced but held on to the one arm his hand still clung to. Using his body weight, he threw his strength into his right arm, and vaulted his body backwards; Charlie's left arm was pulled clean out of its socket.

"**FUCK**!" Charlie's holler, a jumbled mess of pain and anger rang out. He stared at his now useless left arm, then to the jagged edges that protruded from his shoulder. He turned raging red eyes, almost glowing with hatred, onto Jasper. "You'll pay for that."

"Oh I doubt it," Jasper retorted. He bounced on the balls of his feet, like a boxer in the ring. He gestured, two fingers waving toward himself as he egged the moustached vampire to come at him. "What are you waiting for, old timer?"

Charlie growled, his lips pulled back over his teeth. He bent and picked up his broken arm. Swinging it like a bat, he leapt into the air with his right leg, whirled mid jump…and brought down the arm onto empty space. Momentarily confused, he rotated too late as Jasper appeared behind him and shoved him face first into the dirt. He hovered above Charlie, bearing down onto the former cop like judgment day when a cry pierced the air.

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There was something off putting about this female vampire in front of him. Carlisle cursed the dirty blonde vampire's newborn strength as she elegantly danced out of his way, the momentum of his swing thrusting him forward into the spot where she had once been. Carlisle twisted around, swatting Renée's hand away as she attempted to grab him. For some reason she wasn't going on the offensive but was merely trying to seize him. Carlisle did not have time to ponder the strange tactic as Renée charged at him, running headfirst into his body. He used the force built up from her furious sprint to clasp her on either side of her waist, somersault her over his head and into the tree behind them. The wood split upon impact, shedding strips onto the forest floor. Pale brown bark was revealed as Renée slid down the trunk into a messy heap onto the floor. She seemed to remain suddenly motionless and this was when Carlisle made the mistake of using that to his advantage. As he inched forward to haul her to her feet, Renée's hand snaked and latched onto his arm. As a peculiar fog began entering his brain, Carlisle heard a distance yet familiar voice shout out as if from the end of a very long tunnel.

"Carlisle! Don't let her touch you!"

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Bella's cries, so encased in primordial pain and terror had Alice scampering to her feet and running out of the house, not even needing the few seconds to recover from being hurled through the air like a shot-put. Her eyes took in the fight, seeing it as though the scene were set in slow motion when in reality all four vampires were nothing but smudged shapes, appearing and disappearing at sporadic speeds at different parts of the edge of the forest. She could barely make out Bella, who had taken to wrapping herself at the base of a vine decorated tree, her dark clothing almost blending the girl in with the color of the tree trunk. As Alice ran, she saw the way Bella's body shook, the tremors that raked through her body. She could see the ugly bite mark, courtesy of Renée. However, as she neared the brunette something at the corner of her eye caught her attention. She yelled out a warning too late as Renée's hand made contact with the doctor's forearm, paralyzing Carlisle's actions.

"Carlisle! Don't let her touch you!" Alice knew it was too late even as the words, fraught with panic, tumbled out from parted lips.

Too late. Far too late. Alice watched in despair as Carlisle's face clouded over, toffee dipped eyes blanking. As she continued running, a vision suddenly stole her sight, robbing her momentarily of her senses. She continued pushing one foot in front of the other even as the vision ran rampant across her mind's eye. Consequently, as the vision ended, Alice found herself edging so close to Renée that when she backpedaled, she nearly stumbled under the momentum of her. She righted herself, near hissing at the dirty blonde vampire as Renée laughed at her antics.

'_Patience,'_ Alice berated herself. She rewound the vision in her mind, hoping it would play out in time. Instead, she inhaled a deep unnecessary breath, hoping to sooth the livid wave of anger that was swelling within her, threatening to break form and crash over what remained of her self-control. It did not help that Bella's cries were spiking into her like vicious barbwire. She forced herself to tune out the girl's wailing, her heart shattering as she chose what seemed to be the greater of two evils. But fate seemed to conspire against her and for her vision to work, the pixie vampire had to stay where she was.

"Don't come any closer, Shorty," Renée warned sweetly. She coiled perfectly manicured fingers around the base of Carlisle's skull. "Or I'll make him twist his own head off."

"You're fuckin' sick," Alice spat out. She gritted her teeth and let loose a plethora of curses under her breath as Renée's high pitched laughter washed over her like a rain of glass grating down a chalkboard. Nails dug into palms; Alice could feel minute cracks open up and yawn as her nails dug deeper into her hands but she used the feeling as leverage, hoping to bid her time until her vision set itself in motion.

"Sick?" Renée repeated. She trilled out a giggle. "Oh no, darlin'. I may be a little bit crazy, but sick is a bit of a stretch." She grinned that smug grin of hers. It was a grin that Alice wanted to wipe off with brutal intent. Preferably with her fist. Rammed down the infuriating vampire's throat.

"I'm going to kill you," Alice vowed. "Painfully," she added. Her anger was simmering so close to the surface she could practically taste its delicious lure. It teetered just scant inches under her skin, begging, pleading and trying to bully its way out of the confines of her body like a volcano that had long been too dormant. The onyx haired vampire found herself growling loudly; it was as though she were gargling rocks in her mouth from the way the growls battered a path out from her throat.

"You can't," Renée pointed out. "Not unless you want me to make your daddy bear pull his own head off." She pressed a kiss to the side of Carlisle's neck; the doctor simple stood there, staring off into the distance. "It would be such a shame to kill him. He would make such a good toy."

There was an air of instability around Renée that had every hair on the back of Alice's neck standing erect. Nevertheless, she had no time to ponder the dirty blonde vampire's mental health as she heard Esme, Rosalie and Emmett charging up from behind her. Another pair of footsteps were missing. Perfect.

"Don't let her touch you! She has mind control," Alice called over her shoulder. She pulled Emmett to a stop with great difficulty as her hulk of a brother resisted, dragging her forward as he tried to bulldoze into Renée. "Wait," she whispered softly, too soft for Renée to hear.

Emmett turned to her, confusion abundant on his face. Alice shook her head, communicating with her eyes, telling him to stand down until she gave the signal. Emmett nodded tersely.

"Ah, the cavalry," Renée trilled. "How sweet." She tightened her grip on Carlisle; an ominous crack thundered out. "Still won't help."

"Three." Alice began her countdown. She could see the vision beginning. "Two." She ignored the way Renée's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Suspicious, yes. But clearly not smart enough to decipher what would come next. Her ego saw to that roadblock. "ONE! Grab Carlisle!"

The Cullens charged forward as a single unit as Edward dropped down from the tree above Renée. He landed lightly on the dirty blonde's back and latched both hands onto either arm and pulled. The messy haired vampire's face was a mess, a neat row of square like cracks running along the length of his bottom lip. He face looked caved in, as though someone had sat on him. However, that did not stop him from pulling furiously until Renée's arms were yanked out from their sockets. Her scream of fury rang out loud and clear but Alice did not give her a chance to finish that cry. Pushing past Carlisle, she rammed straight into Renée, shoved her so hard back into the ancient tree trunk that it toppled under the two vampires. Before it could fully crash onto the ground, Alice had wrapped her hands around the dirty blonde vampire's head. With grim determination, she wrenched the head sideways, twisting and pulling until a deafening roar akin to an avalanche of boulders sounded off in the forest.

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"NO!" Charlie watched in muted horror as his wife's head was torn clean off. A sudden silence filled him, as though he were in a vacuum. Then a bellow, a primitive cry that seemed to arise from the depths of Charlie's soul, burst forth from his mouth in such a holler that Jasper straightened up in shock. It was a vital mistake as he suddenly went flying into the air, crash landing in a canopy of trees and cursing a mean blue streak along the way.

Charlie did not spare Jasper the time to follow where he threw his quarry. He blurred forward, anger spouting from him in all directions. His incensed blood red eyes, burning so bright with the flames of anger that they seemed to glow, found Bella moaning about on the floor. With a fuming scream he detoured, stampeding straight toward the brunette, where he skidded to a stop, picked Bella up with one hand and threw her with deadly speed into the cover of the woods. Again, Charlie did not have the time to see where Bella's body went as the Cullens all closed in on him, a multiple hands gripping a limb before pulling in a different direction.

The last thing Charlie heard was a soul-shredding scream, echoing from the darkness of the forest. He managed a smile before his head was ripped off his shoulders. The scream was not his.

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	15. Playing Devil's Advocate

**Chapter 15 – Playing Devil's Advocate**

**A/N** – Very graphic depictions of injuries in this chapter, along with an all time high of angst. You have been warned.

The sheer force of the scream almost drove Alice to her knees. It caused a powerful series of tremors to shockwave throughout her body, her entire skeletal frame shaking so violently that she was sure something would fracture. She flinched sharply as another high-pitched wail, more animal than human, vibrated throughout the forest, reaching an almost unbearable crescendo before tempering down to minute whimpers and gasps. Alice knew that scream all too well. She had heard it before, resonating straight from the pits of her innermost nightmares. Bella.

Alice waited for the next bombardment of screams, her body stiff with tension despite her trembling but when her ultra-sensitive hearing failed to pick up any sound from Bella, she felt the bottom of her stomach drop out in response. The petite vampire stole to her feet, uncaring of what would become of Charlie and Renée's bodies. They could regenerate for all she cared. Right now, getting to Bella was her top priority.

'_Get to Bella, get to Bella, get to Bella.'_ It was the single most concrete thought zipping through Alice's mind. The mantra seemed to grow louder, more frenzied as Alice ran, reaching a fevered pitch as the smell of Bella's blood strained the air heavily in front of her. She desperately fought to ignore the smatterings of blood here and there; the odd glob of rusty red glistening atop a tip of a lush green leaf, the almost careless streak of bright red slashed along the body of a tree trunk. But most of all, Alice _really_ wanted to ignore the distinctive "drip drip" sound that was paces in front of her. That and the dark pool of purplish-red that seemed to mutate and puddle before her very eyes. The spiky haired vampire clenched her teeth; if her principal vision looked like a disaster area, she did not even want to comprehend what her peripheral vision above her would look like. Dumb with terror, looking up was the last thing Alice wanted to do but her eyes betrayed her, following the oozing smudge up the tree trunk. Dread encompassed her tiny frame, seeping and clogging every pore, paralyzing her muscles to rigidity as her eyes noted the way the smudge of blood grew steadily thicker, runnier, fresher, wider, until...until…

"CARLISLE!"

Carlisle was already scant seconds behind Alice, having only paused to check on the other Cullens. However, the few seconds it took the doctor to sprint to where Alice was now standing stock-still was enough for the pixie vampire to work herself into a right mess. Her entire ballerina-esque figure was quivering so vividly that had she not been a vampire, Carlisle would have surmised that she was having an epileptic fit. Her arms and shoulder muscles were straining against her chalky pale skin, stretching so taut that they stood blatantly defined against the snugness of her shirt. Veins on her neck bulged, threatening to explode from the confines of her granite hard skin, despite the lack of blood pumping through them. Alice's fingers clenched and unclenched themselves, uncaring of the damage her crystal hard nails were inflicting on her palms. Only her face remained motionless, frozen in a portrait of horror and disbelief. Her mouth hung open, lips painting an "O" of terror, her eyes mute with panic as they affixed themselves to the horrifying scene perversely displayed above them. If Alice could have vomited, she would have been retching so aggressively that it would have abused her throat to the point where, rubbed so raw from the action and bile, blood would have joined the spillage. And Alice would have gladly welcomed the pain with open arms. Anything but the way the vision received from her eyes transformed into a sea of agony so encompassing that she wished fervently for death.

"Oh dear gods," Carlisle breathed out. He stumbled as his eyes traced Alice's visual footprint, reached out to a nearby tree to steady himself and then snatched his hand away so fast that one would have thought his fingers encountered molten lava. Carlisle stared wordlessly at the still warm liquid that stained his fingertips a lipstick red. It pooled in the grooves of his skin, intent on lingering. Almost absentmindedly, he lowered said hand and swiped his fingers on his pristine white shirt, his face twisting with confusion, his actions seemingly uncaring. However, when he began rubbing his fingers more vigorously against his shirt, the compulsion to get Bella's blood off his hands grew obsessive and he rubbed harder, quicker, angrier, until he tore the hem of his shirt to tatters.

It was only Alice's guttural choke of dread that forced his focus back to reality. Enraged at his sudden loss of composure, he bit down a curse as he lunged forward, swerving haphazardly in front of Alice, in vain attempt to shield his daughter from the ghastly sight.

"Alice…"

Carlisle did not get a chance to finish and was rudely cut off as Alice, suddenly seemingly aware of his presence, pounced on him. She had her father by the collar and shoved up the trunk of the tree so fast that Carlisle did not even see her move. He coughed in pure reflex as Alice's claw-like grip meandered up to wrap menacingly around his Adam's apple.

"Alice-" the doctor wheezed. He made no other attempt to confront her however, having already caught a disturbing glimpse of the wild look burning from the core of his daughter's midnight black eyes. The look dared him to antagonize her, a dare he would not reciprocate.

"Fix it," Alice hissed. She was one step away from losing her grip on her sanity. Hysteria, bordering on possible psychosis, coupled with the very grim knowledge that despite Carlisle's skills as a healer and doctor, she might just lose Bella anyway. All of this simply served to push Alice right past her comfort zone. The beast within her roared, vying for revenge, for blood. And she was hanging by a loose thread, ready to give into the primitive part of her that was howling, rattling its cage, begging for release.

"FIX IT!" Alice screamed. She forcefully tore herself away from Carlisle, the combination of too much adrenaline and unadulterated fear rendering the petite vampire unable to speak civilly. Her lips were pulled back over sparkling white teeth, twisting into an ugly snarl. Her eyes seemed blacker than black, twin pools of endless rage and terror born from a deep-seated helplessness that promised hell to come should Bella not make it through this ordeal. Her body was already lowered in a defensive crouch position, knees bent and ready to spring forth to unleash untold and unspeakable carnage. Monstrous growls emanated from Alice, louder than a series of trains rumbling underground.

The sight of his daughter so uninhibited, so inhuman, as if she had shed her last vestige of humanity to become this…thing, caused a very real and tangible sliver of fear to lick down the length of Carlisle's spine. He held up his hands in a useless gesture of comfort, knowing that in the state Alice had worked herself into, she could not be reasoned with.

"I will, Alice. I promise," he tried, hoping against hope that something would penetrate through the livid fog that had clouded Alice's better judgment. "But you have to let me attend to Bella." He scanned Alice's face for some blip of recognition to her words. "Alice? Will you let me go up to Bella? Alice do you understand me? Bella needs you!" Precious seconds were ticking by, each one not in favor for Bella's very fragile state. Carlisle wanted to get to Bella, but he could not do it without Alice's permission. Making a sudden rash move might very well get him killed.

Alice's vision swam, her beast so close to the surface that she could feel the pinpricks of its claws, ready to jump forth and tear through her last barrier of self-control. She could hear Carlisle speak, but his voice sounded as though he were talking from the end of a very long tunnel, his speech distorted and near unintelligible. Nevertheless, as Alice struggled with herself, one word, one name, wrestled through the warbled message: Bella. Bella…Bella…yes. Bella. The brunette was Alice's everything. With that thought, it was enough to anchor the pixie vampire, though her beast did not give in so easily. It wailed and hollered, causing chaos within Alice. Hands gripping either side of her head, Alice's fingers tousled messy strands of hair into an alarming state of disarray. It was a visible struggle to quell the roar of her beast but she managed to force her head into a terse nod, not trusting herself to speak lest her inner demon emerge from her parted lips. She squashed the tempting call to curl into a ball at the base of the tree; the invitation to fall apart at the seams was so delicious. She rebuked the feeling but keeping a wary eye out on Carlisle's movements. She watched as the doctor assessed the tree in front of him before springing gracefully upward, only to latch onto a protruding branch. He swung with the agility of a gymnast before using the momentum to propel himself onto the tree trunk. There, he scaled up the few feet that was needed to reach where Bella…where Bella hung, impaled by two spiked branches.

Deep down Alice knew she should be up on that tree, knew that Carlisle would need her help. But her feet remained stubborn, muscles refusing to respond to her brain's commands to move. Instead, her eyes played torturer, taking in every miniscule detail of Bella's current state. Charlie, though recently one armed thanks to Jasper, had been fueled by such pain and loss of his mate that he managed to throw Bella at such a speed that she did not merely hit a tree but fell cruelly onto its erect branches. One twisting limb of wood wound its out from the back of Bella's shoulder only to poke out from the front, its gnarly stump shimmering a sickly red that dripped consistently. The material of Bella's shirt around the wound boasted a border of a sharp red that contrasted deeply with the white of the cloth. It blossomed, the every growing circle of red spreading wider and further. The second branch was considerably thicker and it jutted out from an uncomfortable angle from above Bella's stomach. The smear of blood seemed even worse there, encircling nearly half of the front of Bella's shirt.

Alice's eyes drifted down to Bella's denim covered legs; a portion of the jeans covering the girl's left leg had been torn open at mid thigh. Sticking out was an inch of sickly yellow-white bone, its edges jagged and tipped with red. Some parts of the edge of the bone were splintered, as though it had been brutally snapped off. Which it probably had. He skin around the bone arched upward, as if trying to reclaim the jutting bone, to shove it back under the skin where it belonged. Instead, the bone cut through the layers of muscle, peeling back layers of skin like yawning petals of a flower as the skin was forced to split and tear, spilling back from itself before molding upwards to wrap around the protruding bone.

The entire sight made Alice pray zealously for some human reaction. She wanted to pass out, to vomit, to fall to her knees, collapse under the hideousness of the way Bella hung like a butcher's slab of meat. But she was a vampire and could do nothing more than to stand there, helpless and useless unless she got her act together. Jaw clenching so tightly, Alice feared it might just fracture under all the pressure, she willed herself to move, launching her tiny body onto the tree and shimmying up so fast that she was simply a curious smudge that seemed to appear and disappear with each blink of an eye. Alice almost lost her footing when she reached to where Carlisle hovered; the scent of Bella's blood was so overwhelming that it completely erased all forests' smells, forcing both vampires to inhale nothing else but the blood, its iron rich taste icing the air like a lining of treats. Despite her thirst being somewhat immune to Bella's blood, venom began pooling in the petite vampire's mouth, dripping off the roof of her mouth onto her tongue. It was a purely physical reaction to the blood and Alice swallowed her mouthful of venom with a gulp of annoyance and growing trepidation. If Bella's blood was causing such stimulation to her vampire nature that would mean that…

"Alice, Bella had minutes left." Carlisle's voice was clipped, urgency seeping through in waves. "If we're lucky," he added despairingly. He began rattling off her extensive list of injuries even as his slightly dimmed honey colored eyes walked itself through what the doctor saw as a medical minefield that had become Bella's body. "The bone on her thigh severely severed her femoral artery; she's losing too much blood. Puncture wounds through the sternum and right shoulder with both entry and exit wounds bleeding. A few of her ribs are broken; note the contusions on her chest. I think one of them may have punctured her lung, I can hear the blood pooling in her left lung. If she were conscious, hemoptysis would cause her to cough up the blood. The bite on her wrist, there's still a whiff of venom leaking from her blood, probable concussion…goddamn it she's bleeding out from everywhere!"

Alice had never heard Carlisle sound so helpless and frankly, it was wearing on her last nerve. She watched as he swallowed sporadically, trying to keep his thirst at bay. It was obvious to both Alice and the doctor that Bella's newly acquired injuries made her previous injuries look like a walk in the park. "I don't care!" the petite vampire barked out furiously. "Do something!" Alice was fast losing her hold on her self-control. Perched on a sturdy branch, she scrutinized Carlisle's weathered face, fraught with tension and grim with the reality that he was going to lose this patient.

Carlisle huffed in impatience. "Damnit, Alice, look at her!" He waved a jerky hand at Bella who hung limply, thoroughly unconscious and barely breathing. The doctor could hear the sluggish beat of her heart, growing slower and more muted with each passing second. He was bewildered that she was even alive but chalked that up to her rapid regenerative healing ability. But even that was not going to be enough to save her. There was too much of Bella to heal and from previous experience, it did not work fast enough. For Bella to make it through, her ability would have to almost instantaneously close up her critical injuries and replace all her lost blood. And it could do neither. A punishable through passed through the doctor's mind: had Bella simply been hurtled straight into the tree, she would have died upon impact, the force most likely shattering her bones. However, fate deemed itself to be merciless, giving Bella's parents the last laugh as Charlie's throw proved far to accurate in ensuring that Bella felt every last drop of pain humanity had to offer before the Grim Reaper finally swooped in to collect its quarry.

"Change her." Alice's voice was painted with desperation, notes of despondency singing loud and clear. "Change her," she repeated, as Carlisle swung incredulous eyes round to settle onto Alice's big golden ones.

"It won't work, Alice," Carlisle began. "She's immune to our venom remember? And even if I could, the venom won't get to her heart in time for the transformation to take place. She'll die before it happens."

"She's dying now!" Alice's scream of frustration reverberated through the forest. Gnashing her teeth together, Alice wanted to regress back into her primitive nature where her bloodlust made things simple. Kill or be killed. Nature of the beast. Instead, she gnawed viciously at her lips, valuable seconds trickling by, each one draining what seemed like a hugely selfish portion of Bella's life force. She could hear the unsteady "glug glug" of Bella's heart, so faint that even with her enhanced hearing, Alice had to strain to hear it.

Her heart! Inspiration struck like a thunderbolt and a plausible idea implanted itself into Alice's mind. She somersaulted backward, landing lithely onto the leaf blanketed forest floor and blurring to the direction of the house without so much as a backward glance.

"Alice!" Carlisle's shout fell on deaf ears. "Alice where are you going? ALICE!"

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Alice ran as if her life depended on it. Or rather, like Bella's life depended on it. Which it did. She bolted through the tattered remains of the front door, near flew up the stairs as she skipped three steps at a time, whirl winded into Carlisle's office and started a fanatical rummaging of the doctor's drawers. She ripped each closet door off its hinges, yanked all the drawers out of its sockets, indifferent to the mess she was making. Desperation swelled as she was unable to find what she was looking for. In a split moment, she considered tipping Carlisle's desk and all its contents upside down when a glint of plastic and silver caught her eye.

A tray full of wrapped, empty syringes lay silently side by side, mocking her for not discovering their obvious and unconcealed location. With a half growl, Alice grabbed a handful and launched herself out the window. She dropped hard onto the ground below, a loud **thud!** following her descent, a tiny crater opening up in wake of Alice's sudden body weight combined with vampiric strength. Alice paid neither distraction any mind as she stampeded back toward the forest, coming to a screeching halt in front of Esme and the other. Her eyes took in the impromptu campfire, courtesy of Renée and Charlie's remains and the way her family all stood in the direction of where the smoke was blowing. She took a precursory sniff; Bella's blood coated the air. Hence the reason for her family's current stance.

"Get over here!" Alice commanded, her voice husky with impatience. She tossed each of them an empty syringe, bouncing irritably on the balls of her feet as each vampire caught the item with a confused look on their face. Alice stamped down the urge to slap them all silly. "I need you to stand here to smell Bella's blood. I need you to use the syringe to suck the venom from your mouth."

Emmett opened his mouth to question Alice's antics but the spiky haired vampire cut him off with a ferocious, "Don't ask questions, just do it!" she shouted. Every second lost meant placing higher stakes on Bella's life.

The Cullens moved from the security of the smell of smoke to where Alice stood. Immediately, Jasper began growling, the last glint of gold having all but erased by the smell of blood that waft through the air. However, he followed Alice's instructions, ripping the plastic wrapping from the syringe and sticking the needlepoint into his mouth. He pulled at the plunger, sucking up the silver-hued venom from his mouth into the syringe. Alice ground her teeth together as she watched the remaining members of her family follow suit. She wished they would all hurry the hell up. Rosalie was the last to finish but the second she did, Alice had lashed forward, whipping the syringes out of their hands and bounding deeper into the forest without so much as an explanation.

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Carlisle was startled to the point where he nearly fell out of the tree as Alice suddenly appeared opposite from him. So intensely concentrated he was on Bella, the doctor had tuned out all other sounds but the pathetic thump of Bella's heart. He frowned at the syringes in Alice's hands. "Wha—"

"I'm going to inject all of this venom straight into her heart," Alice stated matter-of-factly. "Then you and I are going to administer our venom via bites to her neck and wrists." Carlisle opened his mouth to protest. "Don't!" she warned. "It's a long shot but please, _please_," she whispered brokenly. She had to fight to the finish, try everything even if it meant playing the devil's advocate. This much venom running through Bella's veins might very well kill her. But she was already at the point of death, almost knocking on death's door. Alice had nothing left to lose.

"Do it," Carlisle ordered. Bella had seconds from the way her heart sounded; it tried to inflate with each pump of what blood there was left in the girl's body but halfway, it would deflate, unable to gather enough strength. Carlisle watched as Alice stabbed two syringes into the side of Bella's left breast, depressing the plunger until the venom rushed out of the vials and into Bella's heart. Flinging the now empty ones over her shoulder, she repeated the process, sticking the remaining three venom-filled syringes into Bella's chest and plunging the venom deep into Bella's body. That done, she pulled the empty syringes out and tossed them from the tree. Without another word, she lowered her head to Bella's neck, pulled back her lips and sank her stone hard teeth into Bella's jugular. A small spurt of blood sprayed from the gaping wound into Alice's mouth but Alice refused a swallow. She mixed the venom that leaked into her mouth with Bella's blood and spat it back into the wound, using her tongue to block the flow of blood, forcing the venom-induced blood back into Bella's body. From below her she could hear Carlisle's teeth clamp down onto Bella's wrist, tearing open a neat line as he too injected his own venom into Bella.

Alice pooled more venom in mouth and fed it into the wound. She did this a few more times and was completely unprepared when Bella twitched then jerked forcefully, a scream ripping out from the bowels of her throat. Alice tore her mouth away from Bella's neck, not noticing Carlisle do the same. A piercing scream caused both vampires to wince but it was the way Bella's body shuddered and convulsed that turned Alice's stomach inside out. She heard an ominous creak from the tree but ignored it in favor of restraining Bella.

"Bella, Bella, it's ok!" Alice struggled despite her vampiric strength and Carlisle's help. She made a desperate grab for one of Bella's flailing arms but the movement caused her arm to snap back, shattering through the thick branch that impaled Bella. The thinner branch that protruded from Bella's shoulder, groaned under the sudden weight of independently holding Bella's weight and splintered off from the tree.

"NO!" Alice shot forth to seize Bella's falling body but failed. Carlisle managed to latch onto Bella's wrist but in doing so, wrenched the girl's arm from its socket. Another gut churning scream vibrated out from Bella at this act and Carlisle made the mistake of letting go.

"NOOOO!" Alice's face was a mask of horror as she watched Bella tumble downward, gravity aiding her weight until the brunette's body made a sickening thud as it came into contact with the ground. "BELLA!"

Alice followed Bella's descent, only she was impervious to the fall. She tucked and rolled, faltering at Bella's all too quiet body. Beside her, she heard Carlisle's soft landing but her eyes, ears and heart focused on nothing but Bella. Bella who was deathly still, chest unmoving. There was no sign of a pulse on the side of Bella's neck, no rhythm of a thumping heart. No sound of Bella breathing. No blood filtering down her veins. Alice heard nothing. Nothing that would point to Bella being alive.

Alice threw back her head and screamed. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

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	16. Courting Sorrow

**Chapter 16 – Courting Sorrow**

Esme curled a delicate hand around the crown of Alice's head. Dainty fingers sank into a thick mess of midnight black spiky short hair and began a soothing massage of the scalp. Alice sighed but otherwise remained motionless. Face tucked into her elbows with legs drawn up to her chest, she looked the very picture of misery.

"Alice, sweetheart," Esme began softly before her voice faltered and the remaining words trailed off. The motherly vampire simply did not know what to say. Not without making the current situation worse. She hovered around her daughter, hand alternating between carding sure fingers through Alice's hair and continuing her gentle massage.

"I need to be alone," Alice murmured. Her tone belayed her weariness, coating each syllable with palpable despondency.

Esme withdrew her hand, a twinge of hurt momentarily swimming across her picturesque features before she swallowed it beneath a resigned mask. Sighing heavily, she bent and dropped a lingering kiss onto Alice's temple. "Ok, baby," she conceded. "Ok." Straightening, she turned and walked toward the door, opening it quietly and hesitating within the doorframe as she cast a worried glance back at her daughter. "I love you," she added.

"Love you too, mama," Alice responded automatically, though her voice was devoid of emotion.

Esme sighed again, took in one last glance of Alice hunched over her dresser and closed the door softly behind her.

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Emmett dawdled as he debated whether or not to confront Alice. But seeing her curled up on the front porch, looking so small that the bench seemed to swallow her already tiny frame, Emmett was halfway out the door before he fully comprehended that he had moved.

Now, he crouched down in front of his baby sister and placed a beefy hand on her denim-clad knee. Squeezing gently, he offered up a crooked grin sprinkled full of boyish charm. "Hey, pipsqueak," he called out, forcibly keeping his tone light.

Alice seemed not to hear him, eyes glazed over as they glued themselves to something probably not so fascinating in the distance. Emmett frowned and shifted closer, hoping his imposing figure would lure her out of her reverie. His bulk covered Alice in a wobbly blanket of shadows but still, Alice kept vigil to her present state, unflinching in Emmett's hulking presence.

"Alice, please," Emmett pleaded softly. "Talk to me." Desperation colored his every word; he felt as though he were watching a two train collision in slow motion and try as he might, he could do nothing to stop it. He took in Alice's pallor: she seemed paler than normal, more a sickly gray than a usually powdery white. Her normally vibrant eyes, so alive with joy and curiosity were now sunken in her skull, dull and blank with sorrow, blackened from lack of blood. Emmett knew Alice had not fed since…since that day. And whilst it would probably take decades for a vampire to succumb to starvation, if they could even die from starvation that is, the effects of not feeding regularly would no doubt have its consequences.

"Ally…" Emmett was determined to try every nickname he had for her in the book. Anything to garner a response even if she ended up kicking his ass to high heaven. He pushed himself upright, shifted, and then settled himself heavily on the bench next to Alice. His great weight caused the swing to tilt slightly in his favor, swinging erratically before Emmett dug a foot into the floorboards, stilling the movement. "Tinker-ballerina, you gotta open up that pretty mouth of yours. Where's that beautiful laugh that used to ring throughout the house, huh?" Emmett nudged at her side with his elbow before slugging a well muscled arm around her petite shoulders.

Alice sighed. When Emmett wanted something, he was like a dog with a bone. He simply would not be ignored. She finally turned listless eyes onto her big brother. "I just need some time, Em." Alice's voice was hoarse and bruised, as if she hadn't spoken in years. "Please, just let me be." With that, she shrugged off Emmett's one armed embrace and traipsed toward the cover of the woods, shoulders slumped over in dejection, her head hanging low.

Emmett watched her, concern marring his toffee dipped eyes. He dragged a frustrated hand through his cropped hair as Alice's tiny frame disappeared into the cover of the darkened woods before standing back up and retreating back to the house.

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Rosalie clasped Alice's hand, practically dragging the fellow vampire along the pavement. She blew a sheet of air through her teeth in annoyance when Alice simply went along with the tug, almost tripping over her own two feet in response, a high feat for a vampire to accomplish as their reflexes were so enhanced. Skidding to a stop, Rosalie turned and bestowed Alice the iciest glare she could muster. When the pixie vampire failed to shudder under the usually arresting stare, Rosalie felt the glare morph into a frown of concern. Not usually an affectionate person, wavy haired blonde vampire definitely surprised Alice out of her stupor when she moved forward to wrap the vampire in a surprisingly gentle and comforting embrace.

"Alice." The name emerged as a husky plea. "Al, you can't go on like this," Rosalie continued undaunted. She shot a passerby a well practiced scowl over Alice's shoulder as he stopped to stare at two unnervingly beautiful women embrace so openly in public. He tittered nervously, ducked his head under the heat of Rosalie's irritated stare and hastily moved on. Rosalie resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she pulled slightly away before turning her attention back to her sister. "C'mon, Ally, at least try. Bella would hate to see you like this." The last sentence was delivered in deliberately, driven into Alice's conscience with a well-timed whack. Rosalie was not above emotional blackmail if it meant snapping the petite vampire out of this depressive funk she had pulled herself into.

Rosalie watched, a grim smile of satisfaction darting across her lips as Alice yanked herself from the flaxen haired vampire, eyeballing her angrily for even mentioning the brunette's name. "That was below the belt, Rosalie," Alice growled. She furthered the gap between her and her sister, anger rolling off her in rivulets as she folded her arms in a gesture of defiance. "It was completely uncalled for, what you just said."

"Perhaps," Rosalie agreed. "But you know it's the truth," she taunted. Shrugging off Alice's livid expression, she continued. "Don't even start. You wouldn't be acting so defensive if it wasn't true," she pointed out flatly.

Alice's shoulders slumped forward as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Try as she might, she could not deny the logic of Rosalie's words. The blonde may play the part of the icy queen bee, hell bent on her looks and everything material but she wasn't stupid like her stereotype would otherwise project. The spiky haired vampire sighed and ran a hand through her already tousled hair. "You're right," she concurred softly. Then she rolled her eyes at the triumphant look on Rosalie's face. "You don't have to look so smug about it, Rose," All stated wryly.

Rosalie shrugged. Reaching for Alice's hand again, she resumed their walk down the line of boutique shops offered in Seattle. "C'mon, Alice. You need some retail therapy."

Alice's eyes widened. Digging her heels into the ground, she barely managed to keep the pavement from cracking as she dragged Rosalie to a stop. When her sister swung her head around to bequeath her with yet another scowl, her blonde mane swishing through the air as though it were in a shampoo commercial, Alice scrambled quickly for an explanation.

"Rosalie, I can't go into a mall. I haven't hunted since…" The midnight haired vampire trailed off, her words dissipating at the edge of her lips as the trickle of memories of _that_ day suddenly pooled into a rising flood. She glanced down at her shoes, guilt ridding her face.

Rosalie mentally smacked herself. She had worked so hard to get Alice out of the house; outright asking Emmett to pick up their little sister, haul her over his massive shoulder in a fireman's carry and deposit her in Rosalie's car that she had forgotten the finer details. Like Alice's self-induced fast.

Rosalie made a split second decision; spinning them both around, she marched them back to the direction of her car. "Let's go, Alice," she commanded. Used to having people follow her lead, she did not give the pixie vampire a chance to protest as she wound her way around the thin knot of shoppers wandering up and down the walkway. "Excuse us," she barked as she elbowed past a bewildered couple.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Alice cried out weakly, her lack of feeding actually making her somewhat uncoordinated. Or maybe it was the power walk Rosalie had administered on the pair. "Jesus, Rose, where's the fire?"

"We're getting you fed," Rosalie explained matter-of-factly. Her tone brooked no argument. Reaching the car, she unlocked it and near shoved Alice into the passenger seat. "Then we're going shopping." She leveled a no-nonsense look at Alice. "Don't even _try_ to argue. NOBODY interrupts my shopping."

With that, she slammed the door shut and walked around the car. Opening the driver's door and sliding gracefully into her own seat, Rosalie started the ignition with one hand, yanked the door shut with the other, and then floored it, stamping the pedal hard onto the ground and tearing out on the road.

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Jasper found Alice huddled into the corner of the couch. Legs drawn up to her chest, chin propped onto her chin, she gazed absent-mindedly at the flickering television screen, her thoughts clearly a million miles away.

Jasper sighed deeply in resignation. He knew how she was feeling, literally. Alice's pain was so profound, so bone-deep that for days Jasper was a walking imitation of Alice, his every facial expression and body language eerily echoing that of his sister. It got to the point where Jasper would have to leave the house just to gain some measure of peace and tranquility. He couldn't imagine being Alice; the emotions radiating off the onyx haired vampire like an unavoidable toxic fog were merely a fraction of what Alice felt. Whilst Jasper could comprehend such sorrow, he did not have the emotional investment that Alice had regarding the feelings. Yes, he cared about Bella, had come to accept Bella as somewhat part of the family, but he lacked that emotional connection Alice had with her. It was that emotion that most likely made Alice feel tenfold of what Jasper was feeling. The very thought of living with that kind of misery day in and day out made the former war hardened soldier shudder.

Jasper was thrown back to reality when Alice's woeful sigh drifted over to tickle his ears like playful fingers. Shaking his head to clear the cobweb of thoughts, he made his way over to his sister. Without saying a word, Alice inched forward a little, allowing Jasper room to slide in behind her. Settling his strong arms around her tiny waist, he pulled her against him, pressing a tiny kiss to the back of her head when Alice tucked it against his chest.

The pair sat in silence, albeit not an uncomfortable one. Alice's left hand inched a path down to Jasper's thigh where jumpy fingers began picking off imaginary lint. The low hum of the TV filled the space in the otherwise quiet living room and Jasper wavered his attention between Alice and the movie playing on the screen.

Finally, Alice shifted slightly. A mournful exhale flitted past lush red lips. "It's my fault, Jaz."

Jasper, who had silently been waiting for this confession, pounced on it with determined eagerness. "No, it's not," he insisted. He squeezed Alice gently around the middle. "You tried your best."

"My best wasn't good enough," Alice muttered brokenly. "How could I have been so stupid?"

Jasper shook his head, loosening blonde locks that streaked down his forehead. Jostling the fragile bundle that was his sister gently in his arms, he clucked his tongue disagreement. "It's NOT your fault, Ally," he argued. "She was in such bad shape. You had a 50-50 chance that it was going to work. Stop beating yourself up over it."

Alice hacked out a dry sob that shot forth unexpectedly. "But I can't, Jasper!" She twisted slightly in the circle of the former soldier's arms until her agonized gaze settled onto Jasper's; twin caramel pools tainted with guilt boring out from an all too pale face. "She was mine to protect and I—"

"Bella didn't ask you to protect her," Jasper cut in with blunt logic. He raised a pale eyebrow; it arched and disappeared behind fallen bangs. "You are not her keeper, Alice."

Alice shook her head stubbornly. "Doesn't matter," she countered. "Nothing matters. I'm still the one responsible."

Jasper blew out a breath of frustration. He had hoped Alice was getting better. His empathy power told him otherwise but he hoped anyway. She seemed marginally better after a forced shopping spree with Rosalie, even cracking a smile; it was a watery ghost of a smile, but a smile nonetheless. It had lifted Jasper's spirit to see it. However, today, today, it seemed as if Alice had regressed, retreating back into her depression. It was bordering on unhealthy, mentally and physically. Jasper was reminded of Alice's forced starvation; he was frankly stunned she did not go on a bloodlust-induced rampage when Rosalie dragged her to Seattle. But then again, Alice always had a strong willpower, stronger than she gave herself credit for.

Jasper rearranged himself, sinking further into the back of the couch. He was just about to reiterate his case when Carlisle descended the stairs, a half-hidden hopeful smile that was in danger of splitting into a full-fledged grin, tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Alice," he called out. There was a note of excitement in his voice. "Alice I think Bella might finally be coming around!"

**A/N** – You thought she was dead, didn't you? Didn't you? GOTCHA!


	17. Discoveries

**Chapter 17 – Discoveries**

**A/N** - Apologies for the belated update. Work, writer's block, work; all are bad factors to posting the next chapter. This one's kinda filler just to get y'all off that semi-cliffhanger from the previous chapter. Hope it doesn't suck too much.

Alice looked up wordlessly at the patriarch standing on the base of the stairs. He wore a wide smile, which stood out oddly against his normally stoic appearance. Alice simply stared at him as if she could not comprehend what he had just said. Could it be? Bella was ok? Or were her ears deceiving her? Face potent with hope and disbelief; she sought for that glint of truth that would convince that skeptical voice that Bella was indeed, all right.

Jasper felt his sister's conflicting emotions. Nudging her gently, he began prying her off him. "Go to her, Ally," he said. "I'm betting you'll be what she wants to see when she first wakes."

Alice stumbled to her feet, her motor skills baffled clumsy by Carlisle's announcement. Contrary to how she reacted before when Carlisle first told her Bella had awoken, Alice now trudged a painstakingly slow path up the stairs, her every footstep mocking her, telling her that she was dreaming, that this was all one big cosmic joke. With the voice in her head warring with the hope in her heart, Alice's trepidation only blossomed. Turning the corner on the upstairs landing, she practically pigeon-stepped to her room, her booted feet inching forward one tiny step at a time. It seemed an age before her elfin figure finally found itself in front of the sturdy oak door. Alice studied the doorknob, almost as though she had no knowledge of how to operate such a simple device. Her body then took over, exasperated at her momentary befuddlement and one hand reached out, moving on autopilot. Nimble fingers fanned open to grasp the doorknob and muscles in her wrist tightened and twisted as it began to turn the knob clockwise but before the act could be completed, Alice staggered back, fingers slipped off the metal knob as a vision robbed her of her sight.

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Bella knew something was different. Not just with her but with her surroundings. She felt curiously weightless, like gravity held no sway over her body. The bed she lay on was incredulously soft, the sheets crisp and clean with a pleasurable hint of apple scented detergent. There was a captivating mixture of smells that permeated the room; honeysuckle, vanilla, oak, morning dew, fresh grass. All these aromas seemed enhanced, strong, even to Bella's normal sense of smell. Her ears also seemed to have developed higher sensitivity. She could clearly hear the wind sift its fingers through a thatch of leaves outside, causing the greenery to rustle and flutter. The flap of a pair of wings and a slight thump allowed her to conclude that a bird had landed on a branch outside her window. When Bella finally peeled open her eyes, she was greeted with the most startling sense of them all: her developed sight.

Everything was crystal-clear. The colors that painted her world were brighter, more vivid. The long stream of sunlight that shone through her window had intermittent rainbow speckles along its spine. The objects that made up the room were presented to her in a sharp kind of focus that had been previously unavailable to Bella; it was as though she had been seeing everything through a poor television reception. Now, however, everything came in high definition. Alarmed, yet unable to contain that seed of curiosity that grew within her, Bella turned to stare at the ancient tree that stood proud and tall at the corner of the window. She could see the glistening residue droplets of dew clinging to the tips of the impossibly green leaves. She could make out each line and wrinkled pattern on the surface of each leaf. The girl gawked as her eyes drifted down to the tree trunk; Bella could not only make out but she could count each groove that had been etched onto the bark by weather and age like she were standing next to the tree itself.

These discoveries caused Bella to sit up, ramrod straight. Although an instinctive reaction, the brunette immediately regretted such a bold move; her body yelled out in protest, revealing to Bella just what a roadmap of aches and sores it was. Her muscles seemed stiff and unused, weakened from immobility. There was a deep-seated weariness in her bones that spoke of sleeping much too long. Her neck felt crooked, her legs lying taut and in need of a good stretch. When Bella lifted a hand to brush fingers through the limp mess that was her hair, she found the limb in question to be sluggish and heavy.

Bella pondered all these observations as she shouldered into the knot of pillows that sat behind her. She wondered what had happened for her to be rendered to such a weakened state. However, before her brain could begin processing anything, there was the unmistakable _snick_ that announced the opening of a door. The brunette's head snapped toward the door in response, a mind numbing fear that taste far too familiar raking through her veins. Pulse pounding a tattoo of beats under her skin, she watched the door open as if in slow motion before a tousled head peeked in from around the corner.

"Bella?" Alice emerged from behind the doorframe, teetering nervously on the balls of her feet. She tilted her head up, found Bella sitting up on the bed, head cocked and made a half choked cry before blurring forward and flinging both arms around Bella's shoulders.

Bella was hit immediately by the smell of honeysuckle and vanilla. There was also that cotton-candy sweetness that came with being a vampire but for Bella, the combination of these scents wafting off Alice was so strong that it empowered everything else. It filled her nostrils, running quickly down into her bloodstream like a drug. Needing more, she wrapped both arms around Alice, before burying her face in the midnight black hair and inhaling deeply. Eyes closed, she allowed the unique fragrance that was simply Alice to wash over her, soothing out nerves and calming her senses.

Bella was unsure of how long they stayed locked in an embrace but neither was willing to let go. For Bella, Alice was everything safe and everything home. Alice was the epitome of comfort and protection and Bella felt a painful yearning in chest as she continued holding Alice. She wasn't sure why, but she felt as though they had been apart for a very long time. For Alice, Bella had become her anchor, her reason for being. Knowing that Bella was indeed alive and well was a balm to her shredded soul and she could already feel the tears beginning to heal. She pulled Bella impossibly closer until a sheet of air couldn't come between the two meshed bodies and revealed in the warmth that was Bella.

Although Bella was seemingly content to lie in the confines of Alice's arms forever, her brain would finally not be ignored. it fired off one question after another in rapid succession, demanding remuneration in the form of an explanation. It distracted Bella enough so that she finally, albeit reluctantly loosened her hold on Alice. Taking the opportunity, the questions emerged like looming shadows over the horizon: why did Bella's bones not crack from under the force of Alice's hug? Why did Alice feel somewhat _warm_? Why were her five senses suddenly so attuned? Or…

"Alice?" Bella winced and flinched as soon as she spoke. The one word had forced the girl to realize that her mouth was drier than the Sahara desert, her tongue a virtual dried up riverbed and her throat parched and raw. Speaking proved exceedingly painful and sounding out Alice's name, however beautiful it was, was akin to swallowing a handful of razors…sideways.

Alice immediately caught that bolt of pain that skittered across Bella's features. "Let me get you some water," the vampire offered. She hopped off the bed and dashed into the adjacent bathroom, emerging scant seconds after with a filled to the brim glass. She handed it to Bella who immediately latched chapped lips onto the top of the glass and began gulping down the cold water greedily. All Bella could think about in those minutes she drank was how fresh and clean the water tasted. How it slithered down her tongue, reviving deadened taste buds. How it sloshed to the back of her mouth where it cascaded down the sides of an overly desiccated throat, lubricating the sides and running away the soreness. The ecstatic feeling did not last long, however. Another question niggled from the back of Bella's brain: why could she taste a hint of mountain air in the water? Was her sense of taste that sensitive? Her temples began to throb; too many questions were beginning to clutter her brain resulting in the beginnings of a headache.

Finally quenching her thirst, Bella allowed for a moment of silence as her now hydrated throat sung out its appreciation. Swallowing experimentally, she softly cleared her throat to test the ability of her vocal cords. Swiveling concerned eyes onto Alice, she constructed her question carefully but knew instinctively that what she was going to say would freak Alice out.

"Alice?" Bella's voice was husky and bruised months of disuse. She internally winced at how Alice tensed, her shoulders setting into a straight line filled with tension. But Bella needed answers. Sucking in a breath she verbally voiced out the one question that was shrieking at the forefront of her mind: "Alice what happened to me?"


	18. Long Night

**Chapter 18 – Long Night**

**A/N** – I know it's been ages since I've last updated. And my last chapter probably didn't leave much of y'all satisfied. So here is the next chapter, filled with lots and lots of well...emotion. Hope y'all enjoy. Oh, flashbacks are written in Italics, FYI.

The world was a quiet place. Beyond the yawning window lay a landscape shrouded in darkness, with only a single weak beam of silver-white light emanating from the moon. The moonlight stabbed a path through a thin sheet of rain, pouring weakly through a pane, illuminating an otherwise dark bedroom.

Twilight. It was Alice's favorite time of night, though a part of her felt reluctant to admit it lest she adhere to the vampire stereotype. Nevertheless, the witching hour, as some would call it, held a veil of mystery and magic that was more than appealing, it was seductive. Suspended between the current nightfall and the inevitable breaking of dawn, twilight hours brought about a sense of quiet that was both peaceful and disturbing.

Alice tracked molten gold eyes to the window; it offered a picturesque scene that could so easily be friend or foe. The stretch of trees that lay beyond the driveway was silent and foreboding. Only a light drizzle disturbed the mound of leaves that sprouted atop the thick tree trunks as it danced a rhythmic tune onto the soft wet earth below. There was also a slight mist, a result of the cooling weather and condensation. It floated, unobstructed by barriers and objects as it merely molded past them, snaking eerie gray-white fingers along and between trees and branches.

Some would view the scenery as ominous, what with the black smudged skies and looming greenery, coupled with the thin blanket of mist that wriggled about effortlessly in midair. However, for Alice, it brought a sense of romanticized nostalgia, a longing for the days when synthetic buildings and roads did not scar the earth and nature ran abundant, growing wild and free in any direction it pleased.

A slight shift from the bundle cradled so preciously in her arms brought the elfin vampire's attention back into the room. Alice glanced down to where Bella lay, slumbering fitfully in the circle of the vampire's arms. A frown marred the space between the brunette's eyebrow and clenched eyelids twitched in rapid succession in response to a rearing nightmare. Alice immediately cuddled Bella closer to her, a futile attempt to ward off the nightly demons that seemed intent on making sleep Bella's new personal hell. As the girl let loose a pained whimper, Alice couldn't help but be reminded of when the night terrors first began.

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_A deafening scream rattled each housed vampire to the bone. The scream was so drenched in incomprehensible fear and tangible pain that had Alice been human, all the blood would have drained from her face. She would have undoubtedly experienced an adrenaline rush so fierce that it would have resulted in her blood pounding and her pulse beating a terrifying jingle in her ears. Knocking over the high stool she was perched on, Alice bolted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, skidding down the hallway and bursting into her room, half expecting to Bella lying in a burgundy red pool of her own blood. To her stark relief, she found the girl sitting ramrod straight up in the middle of the bed, hot tears dousing her cheeks as she clutched desperately at bed sheets that were slightly torn. The sight of Bella looking so scared and lost brought her relief to a screeching halt; it took a sharp turn straight into worry, which ensconced itself tightly around Alice like a noose._

_The spiky haired vampire ran to Bella, her limbs moving on their own accord in response to her eyes witnessing the brunette's distress. She gathered Bella into her arms, hoping fervently that the shield of her embrace would make whatever demons that haunted the girl's dreams to vanish. Alice suppressed a slight wince as Bella gripped both her shoulders, nails digging painfully into the skin even as she buried her head into the crook of the vampire's shoulder, instantly wetting the collar of Alice's t-shirt with salty tears that fell like a flash flood._

_Although technically not a vampire, Bella now possessed certain vampiric traits, thanks in part to the excess dose of venom administered straight to her heart by Alice in the heat of desperation. Carlisle had been unable to theorize exactly what Bella now was but he could only deduce that Bella's unique healing ability had prevented the girl from fully transforming into a full-fledged vampire. Instead, the venom mutated Bella's rapid cell regeneration ability to the point where she could now heal almost instantaneously. This discovery was made when the girl accidentally gave herself a paper-cut unfolding the newspaper. The pinprick of pain was quick and fleeting and the brunette had watched in utter disbelief as the cut scabbed over and healed to non-existence even before it fully formed. _

_The ability to heal rapidly was not the only skill Bella required; she was now also stronger than the average human. Due to her current physical state, Carlisle could not estimate just how much physical strength Bella now possessed but there was the assumption that she could be as strong as the average vampire. The fact that her own human blood still ran through her veins combined with the lingering venom all served to act as a well of batteries that would never run out of juice. Bella's five senses were also enhanced; her vision was now crystal sharp, her hearing irritatingly acute. She could smell the moisture of rain in the air long before the skies openly wept and her taste buds had taken to deciphering each food molecule it came into contact with. Her sense of touch was incredibly attuned to whatever surface and texture it met, feeling each thread and fiber, noting the smoothness and roughness with alarming accuracy. These new attributes had disconcerted Bella to a point where she became jittery of each newly discovered sensation but after a week of flinching at every new smell or hearing a car swerving recklessly on the nearby highway, the girl had come to accept these new abilities with a hangdog stoic resignation of one who realized that these changes were irreversible. _

_Alice was violently jolted out of her musings as a ragged sob, bruised with fear, ripped itself out from the confines of Bella's throat. The elfin vampire felt scalding tears dripping and sliding down the crook of her neck and instinctively drew Bella closer to her regrettably cool body._

"_What is it, Bella?" Alice questioned softly. She did not expect an answer; on the contrary, she phrased the question as a soothing kind of mantra, allowing her dulcet tones, husky with worry, to blanket Bella in a cocoon of comfort. She repeated the question at intermittent intervals, murmuring it into the sobbing girl's sweat matted hair before pressing feather light kisses to Bella's temple. One arm securely curled itself over Bella's trembling shoulder blades that jutted out from a still too thin body. The other rubbed soothing circles along the expanse of the girl's back, conveying her presence and offering her strength. Alice noted the frantic way Bella clung to her, as though she were the last lifebuoy on a sinking ship. The brunette's entire lanky frame heaved and shuddered with the force of her cries and her thin tank top stuck wetly to her torso, soaked through with perspiration and terror._

_It seemed an eternity before Bella quieted down but even when the gut wrenching sobs gave way to the occasional gulp of air and unprepared hiccup, Alice was hard pressed to get the girl to speak. Silence hung between them like an uninvited guest and as the minutes trickled by with an almost audible "drip drip", Alice felt her concern metamorphose up into a panicked level._

"_Bella," Alice crooned out, her voice caressing the name like a reverent prayer that was meant to sooth, to bring peace. "Baby, you need to talk to me," she continued softly, keeping her voice shy above a whisper. "Please," she implored the girl, when Bella failed to respond. Pressing a firm kiss into Bella's hair, she allowed her lips to linger on its silky softness as she waited for some verbal signal from the girl lying in her arms._

_Bella sucked in a juddering breath, her body taut with trepidation as she mentally calculated her options. A part of her wanted to tell Alice everything, spill out every dark, shameful, humiliating secret that would no doubt scar her for the rest of her life. She wanted to tell Alice that despite the talk she had with the petite vampire on what happened when she declared amnesia on the subject, she had begun to remember more than she bargained for. The memories, though distorted and jumbled attacked her subconscious, piercing through the cloak of sleep at the midnight hour when her mental defenses were at its weakest. It drenched her sleep with dreams infused with horror, helplessly and all encompassing pain. She was forced to relieve the horror that had become her sleep each night, fighting tooth and nail to hold onto her sanity as buried memories of her past crawled its way to the opening of her mind's eye, drowning her in all its wicked sensations. But tonight, this night, was the first time Bella had lost control completely. She had awoken screaming, coated in sweat and suffocating under a knot of terror that acted like a creeping poison, eroding her self-control and chewing her nerves raw._

_The brunette shivered out of the cobweb of her prickly thoughts as Alice prompted her with yet another question. Deciding resolutely that she had burdened Alice and the Cullens enough with all her tragic nonsense, she began untangling herself from the cool embrace that Alice was so readily offering. _

_Alice felt the disengagement of their bodies the second Bella shifted and had to stamp down the primordial instinct to haul the girl back into her arms. The pull away was more than just physical; Alice could feel Bella closing a heavyset door on her emotions, shutting the vampire out and closing the emotional channels of communications that ran so efficiently between them. The seed of desperation that began blossoming at the pit of Alice's stomach sudden indulged in a growth spurt and Alice reacted by reaching down to entwine her fingers tightly with Bella's._

_Bella barely resisted the urge to flinch when Alice reached for her hand. Damn the elfin vampire for being so intuitive. The brunette looked down at their joint hands, one a pale snowy white, the other the pallor of clouded milk. Alice's vice-like grip spoke of a quiet hopelessness, a burning need to understand something that she loath to admit was far out of her depth. Overwhelmed with emotion, guilt at the fore, Bella lifted their tangled hands and brushed her lips gently over Alice's knuckles, missing the way the vampire's eyelids fluttered shut at the contact as she then abruptly shook off Alice's hold. Aware of the thickening tension that curdled the air in the room, Bella offered Alice a watery smile that spoke volumes and yet gave away nothing. Shifting so that she could recline back on the bed, Bella turned onto her side, facing away from Alice and her concerned inquisitive stare as she forced herself to drop back into the abyss of sleep._

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A tortured moan forced Alice back to the present. Shaking away the stained cloud thoughts overcastting her mind, Alice turned honey hued eyes onto the girl sleeping restlessly in her arms. Worry encased the vampire like a well worn pair of leather gloves; it had been a constant companion ever since Bella had come into her life and though she resolutely refused to blame the girl, she hated the way the emotion wormed so easily past her defenses, washing through her veins like toxic fumes.

Alice clenched granite hard teeth, grinding them into submission as Bella began crying in her sleep, rivulets of tears stubbornly squeezing out from behind tightly clenched lids. She pulled Bella impossibly closer to her, nosing a path into the girl's chestnut brown hair and depositing minute kisses, as though hoping that each press of her lips against the top of Bella's head would subdue the prickly nightmares, dethrone their dominance over the girl's sleep. However, when Bella cried out, Alice felt her heart tear and her brain turn into a battlefield as two options argued their case. There was a part of Alice that so desperately wanted to wake Bella up from wherever her subconscious had thrown her into, to snatch the girl away from the jaws of nightmares that were insistent on gnashing their teeth into the soft folds of Bella's sleep. But there was another part of her that was shrieking blue bloody murder, pointedly reminding Alice just what had happened when she had first hauled Bella out of her nightmare induced sleep.

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_The elfin vampire with the tousled unruly hair paced edgily in the confines of her room. She had an air about her that fairly screamed of an agitated caged tiger that was severely unhappy at being locked up. Alice's head shot up when an almost incoherent "stop it!" floated over from the bed that lay on the far side of the room._

_Ever since Bella had started falling asleep to what was obviously hellish nightmares, Alice had developed an uncanny sixth sense to when they would start. This was precisely why she was currently wearing a hole into the wooden floorboards with her pacing. Her family had long grown accustomed to Alice suddenly drop or cease whatever activity she was doing to sprint upstairs and disappear around the corner. Whimpers and near heart-stopping screams would usually follow minutes after; the pain soaked cries would sometimes become so unbearable that even Rosalie, whose animosity toward Bella was never made secret, would leave the house for the refuge of the forest, tears wetting and blurring the gold of her eyes._

_A disturbing thud alerted Alice's attention to Bella; one of the girl's arms had lashed out and smacked erect knuckles against the headboard, no doubt hard enough to leave bruises. Bruises that would color and smudge a distorted stain on the sallow skin of Bella's hand before melting away split seconds later thanks to the girl's rapid healing ability. Nevertheless, the way Bella's still too thin frame flopped and twitched on the bed was a never-ending source of heartache for Alice. The others had the opportunity of escape; school had restarted and with the changing weather, the hospital was swarming with people complaining of this or that illness, which kept Carlisle on constant call. But for Alice, for Alice, the vampire had taken leave from school, solidifying her absence via Carlisle, who's authority as a doctor had allowed him to fabricate a serious enough sickness to confirm Alice's homebound state for the rest of the semester. Both her adopted parents frowned upon her decision but neither had the will nor the heart to dissuade her._

_Another bruised whimper sliced through the air. Though technically unbeating, the spiky haired vampire could feel the phantom thumps of her heart beating in response to that pained sound; the way the muscle battered an insistent beat against her ribcage as if it were incensed at being detained behind rows of curved rigid bones. Yet another moan followed the whimper; Alice clomped down hard on her bottom lip, feeling it crack under the pressure of her teeth before the wound closed up on itself. She began making silent steps toward the bed, halting midway when Bella fell silent, her body collapsing back onto the bed, as though exhausted from its recent activity. Stillness overtook Bella; for a terrifying second Alice thought she had stopped breathing, so quiet was the girl, her limbs unmoving and lifeless._

_The brief respite did not last. An ear piercing scream sprung from the head of the bed; Bella's head thrashed erratically on the dented pillow, twin rivers of tears meandering down flushed cheeks. The brunette's lips were shaped oval, mouth gaping open to release cries that shoved its way out from a throat that was rapidly becoming abused. The same lips would then relax, bend back to curved lines, sealing together to momentarily contain the screams that would brutally slice through the seam between the lips to fire off another round. _

_The sounds ripped into Alice like a tangle of barbwires coiling itself around her petite frame, its sharp thorns tearing neat, relentless holes into her soul. Unable to withstand it any longer, Alice rushed toward the bed, knelt by the bedside table and placed both hands on either side of Bella's shoulders, shaking her roughly. _

"_Bella, stop! Stop it!" Alice's voice rang out, tinged with despair and fright. She pushed harder against the resistant, flailing body, knowing that she was hurting the girl but lost in her sudden frenzy, she failed to notice the finger-shaped bruises that began to appear on Bella's milky white skin. Instead, she continued shaking Bella like a rag doll, venom soaked tears blurring her vision. "Please," she begged over the din of Bella's screams. "PLEASE!"_

_What happened next was completely unexpected yet so ruthless in its consequences. Bella awoke to the sound of her own shouts; dazed from the nightmares and drunk on terror, she thrust out both hands, intent on pushing her attacker away from her. Her open palms came in contact with something that was crystal hard and the combination of the solidity of Alice's body and the extreme force with which Bella put behind her frenzied push splintered all the bones in both arms. The girl screamed, pain a thick coat over the horrendous sound. _

_The crash of the opening door was a momentary distraction as the cavernous hole that lay in wake of the now open door poured in a harried looking Carlisle. Before his golden dipped eyes could assess the scene, Alice was in front of him, talking a mile a minute._

"_She hurt her hands," she blurted out, panic a persistent mask over her pixie features. "Something cracked, I heard something crack," she continued, speaking so fast that her words were being jumbled together. "She hit me. With her hands. Something cracked. I heard something crack."_

_The repeated sentence was a cause of great concern but Carlisle had to now focus on Bella who was wincing and gritting her teeth with such ferociousness that even from across the room, Carlisle could see the muscles in her jaw jump with each clench. Gently nudging his still rambling daughter aside, the doctor made his way over to Bella. He took in her deathly pale face, the sweat matted hair and the discoloration that smudged the skin on both her arms, with the merged colors of blue, purple, green and sickly yellow running almost up to her elbows._

"_Broken bones," the patriarch murmured, more to himself than to Bella. Experimentally he lifted one arm, doing his best to keep his face impassive as he cradled the limb, examining it with a well trained eye. He almost jumped in surprise when he felt movement beneath the bruised skin but knew what was now happening. "The bones are already beginning to knit itself back together," he informed the bed-ridden girl. Setting the arm gingerly back down on the bed, he got up and ran out of the room, returning seconds later with two splints, which he began administering on one arm before doing the same with the other._

"_There," he said. "I think your bones will fully heal in a few hours, given the way it's already re-knitting itself. The splints are just to ensure it heals properly."_

_Bella nodded her thanks, too exhausted from the pain to produce a verbal response. Carlisle patted her on the head in a fatherly fashion before turning his attention to Alice who had decided to imitate a statue. She stood stock still in front of the doorway, eyes unblinking as they zeroed in on Bella's splinted arms. Carlisle moved in front of her, placed a loving hand on her shoulder, bent down and whispered something in her ear before brushing a soft kiss on her forehead. Then without a backward glance, he left the room, closing the door softly behind him._

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Again, Alice was jolted out of memory lane by Bella's pitiful whimpers. Having learned the hard way not to restrain the girl, she simply held Bella, expertly moving away from arms that whipped out, even in her current position. She began humming under her breath, letting her naturally melodious voice ease out from full lips that vibrated gently against the soothing tunes. Bella continued her mewling, salty tears still descending from closed eyes but Alice noted that her body had begun to relax against hers, growing stiller until she was a dead weight against Alice's tiny frame.

Hoping that this was sudden wave of calm was not a prelude to another bout of screams and kicks, Alice continued her almost hypnotizing hum, the beautiful yet somewhat haunting melody floating carelessly throughout the room. As she started a slow, subtle rocking motion of her arms, Bella held so dearly, so gently to her chest, she noticed the first pinprick of sunlight. The weak amber ball was slowly climbing over the horizon, igniting the nearby clouds with colors of yellow-red and golden-orange. As it ascended higher into the sky, it threw the sky into hues of violet, reddish-pink and the beginnings of Prussian blue. These colors streaked across the expanse of the sky, chasing away the blanket of darkness that was night and revealing clouds that seemed pristine white, as though they had been bleached.

Alice's low humming never ceased even as her eyes took in mother nature's painting of the sky. It was as if an invisible hand held an invisible brush, sweeping colors across the sky, coating over the veil of blue-black that dominated at night. As the sun crept higher, it washed a brilliant wild orange over the already multi-colored sky. The scenery was beautiful as it was unique. Alice had seen many a sunrise and each was different, never following its predecessor as it came up with new colors, new waves of patterns that never failed to awe Alice with its brilliance.

"Hello."

Alice looked down. Bella was awake and staring up at the vampire with sleepy, heavy lidded eyes. "Good morning," Alice whispered, bending down to press a soft kiss to the girl's forehead.

Bella's eyes involuntarily closed at the contact. But the instant darkness invaded her vision and erased the lines and planes of Alice's face, she wrenched them open again, looking back up into the elfin vampire's face with the heartbreaking intensity.

"What is it, Bella?" Alice inquired softly. The way the girl was looking at her set off warning bells at the back of her head and she closed a steel door over the reminder of the vision she had when she had been told that Bella had finally awoken. Now was not the time for speculation.

Bella sucked in a shaky breath. She knew her nightmares were setting all the Cullens on edge, especially Alice. They were as much a torture for the spiky haired vampire as they were for Bella. And if she was being honest with herself, she knew that she owed Alice an explanation. After everything Alice and the Cullens had done for her, the least she could do was to come clean about everything. Reaching up, she grasped Alice's hand, squeezing the vampire's cool fingers tightly. She looked straight into Alice's eyes, searching for reassurance, for strength and as always, Alice projected her needed desires back to her.

Drawing another deep breath, Bella spoke, her voice, husky from sleep and crying cutting through the quiet air with ease. "I remember," she began. Her eyes filled up with tears as she dredged up the memories that she wished she could bury and forget. When Alice opened her mouth to protest, Bella reached up to place a lone finger on her lips. "Please," she said.

Alice could hear the tears and sorrow in Bella's trembling voice but felt powerless to do anything under Bella's instruction to remain silent. So she simply nodded even as dread filled up her pores.

"You deserve to know." Bella paused, turning away to look at the still rising sun before returning her resigned gaze to Alice. "You _need_ to know."

Alice nodded again, though her body was now taut with trepidation. As Bella began her tale, Alice knew that the long night of screams and haunted memories had now bled into what would now be a long morning filled with streams of tears and painful heartache.

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	19. Bella's Tale

**Chapter 19 - Bella's Tale**

_The bell positioned at the corner of the door chimed softly as Bella exited the bookstore. Out she stepped, into scenery that could best be described at ominous. It had gotten darker much faster than the brunette had anticipated and she was slightly unnerved by how fast the weather had cooled. Her surroundings were awash in darkness, save for the line of streetlamps that illuminated a set of winding steps. But the light spiking down from the lamps was dimmed by a thin sheet of mist that threatened to obscure Bella's line of sight as it drifted lazily through the air, its thin tendrils of ghostly white, streaking in front of Bella like gnarly fingers. Though not yet dense enough to render Bella sightless, the mist was nevertheless adding to the foreboding atmosphere that had descended upon the sleepy town of Forks._

_Bella swallowed a potential kernel of fear and shouldered her backpack. As she took the first steps down the stairs, the skies decided it to be an opportune time to open up and weep. The pitter-patter of raindrops, dropped lightly down from bloated curling gray-black clouds that were nearly hidden against the obsidian sky. It cut through the mist, sending it into a general disarray around Bella's lanky form as she continued down the stairs, her pace slowing as the steps grew slick with precipitation._

_Cursing the rain, the cold and mist, Bella tugged up the hood of her jacket over her slightly damp hair and waved an impatient hand in front of her face as a mass of gray-white mist floated right into her face. It disintegrated under her flickering fingers, allowing Bella to regain her sight of the remaining stairs in front of her and the brunette continued downward. The brunette managed to make it about three quarters of the way down the stairs when her luck decided to run out and her booted feet happen to land on a shallow puddle that covered a spread of slippery moss. Immediately upon impact, Bella found herself slipping backward and one hand shot out to grab at the wet railings that lined the stairs. However, the veil of rain had made the metal railings so slick with water that Bella's fingers only managed to grapple desperately at it before they slithered off, resulting in the brunette landing unceremoniously on her behind. She hit the ground with an undignified thump, the back of her jeans immediately soaked through by the pooling water on the steps. _

"_I hate the rain!" Bella muttered, barely resisting the urge to reign in a litany of expletives that would have made a sailor blush. Reaching up, and only after ensuring that she had a firm grip on the rails, did the girl haul herself back up. She winced as her tailbone protested the movement; no doubt her fall had caused her to jar the bone in question roughly against the concrete steps. "Well that's just great," she continued, spitting each word out sarcastically. She deliberately ignored the slow creeping ache that was spreading from her tailbone out to her lower back or the wetness that was now distinctly felt against her underwear as she charily made her way down the last flight of stairs. _

_Bella blew out a breath of stark relief when she made it to the bottom without further incident. Hoisting her backpack further up her left shoulder, she followed the beams of light from the streetlamps that would lead her back to the main road. She kept smartly under the pools of orange-yellow light; the side road she was currently on was quiet and otherwise dark and she did not intend to invite unnecessary trouble. The brunette faltered slightly when she realized the last three streetlamps had fizzed out, leaving an abyss of pitch for Bella to walk into. Dismissing her growing imagination, and unfortunately her instinct to turn back, she took one cautious step into the dark when something stepped in front of her._

_Not something. Someone. With eyes that glowed like twin red coals. Reflexively, Bella stepped back, that kernel of fear blossoming into a knot of undeniable terror. It twisted around her walls of her stomach, winding up to her lungs, which seem to constrict under the pressure and Bella suddenly found it hard to breathe. _

_The girl stopped breathing at all when the person stepped into the ray of light, revealing their identity._

"_Mama?" Bella's voice was a mere whisper, heavy and choked with a myriad of emotions that all wrestled for control of the girl's motor skills. Her hands began to shake and she took another step backward as her mother took one more forward…_

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"What in the hell were you doing in a dark alley at night?" Alice's tone was harsh with accusation and disapproval as her voice cut off Bella's speech. She glared at Bella, honeyed eyes flashing fire.

Bella glared back. "I lost track of time," she replied irritably. "And it wasn't that late. I just forgot that the wettest part of the continental US got dark early."

Alice shook her head in exasperation, sending spikes of sable hair stabbing in all messy directions. "Why were you in a bookstore in Forks, anyway?" She pinned Bella with a look. "I thought you said you lived in Seattle."

"I do. Did." Bella had to correct herself. "I was doing a paper on local legends for one of my college entrance essays. The Quileutes tribe seemed interesting and after initial research I found that this bookstore in Forks had the perfect books for my paper." Bella missed the dark look that shadowed Alice's face as she studied her hands. "Who knew the legends of The Cold Ones would end up being real?" She barked out a sarcastic laugh as she finally looked up at the petite vampire. "Are you going to tell me that the werewolf stories are real too?"

When Alice failed to answer, Bella rocked back on her heels. "Are you kidding me?" Alice only bestowed her with a blank look and the brunette felt her jaw sag. "You…they…" Her arms flailed around violently as her brain fought to process this new shocking information. "It's ALL real?" Her voice was a startled squeak, colored with astonishment.

"I am a vampire." Alice gestured to herself with a grand sweep of a hand. "If I'm standing in front of you, in flesh and blood so to speak, why can't you believe werewolves exist?"

Bella sunk both hands into either side of her head, feeling as if her brain might explode from this unexpected discovery. "This is too much," she murmured. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Alice sighed and knelt in front of Bella. Gently caressing a knee that peeked out of the mess of blankets, she looked into Bella's eyes. "We'll talk more about them later," she promised. "Tell me what happened next." The girl hunched on the bed met her with a confused stare. "In your story," she prodded gently.

"Oh," Bella sighed. She winced as the memory seared at her nerves and internally cringed as Alice's shoulders tightened and a cold mask dropped onto her face.

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_Bella woke up with a pounding in the back of her head, that was insistent as it was annoying. It knocked against the base of her skull with a persistent beat that refused to relent. She automatically lifted a hand to relieve some of the ache only to find her hands bound behind her back._

"_Ah, she awakens." A voice called out cheerfully._

_Bella whipped her head toward the sound. A figure stood by the side of the fireplace where a small fire crackled merrily, its warm orange tongues of flames throwing long shadows into the otherwise dark room. She gasped as the figure moved into the light._

"_No." Fear, primordial in its nature, hit Bella with palpable force. She struggled to scuttle away from the figure only to find that she could not move. Taking stock of herself, she finally realized that she was tied to a wooden beam, arms pulled behind her and around the beam and legs propped up to her chest, ankles bound by thickset ropes that wound its way multiple times around her legs._

"_It's been a while, Bella. How are you?" The figure now standing in front of the small fire was Bella's father. He too, had ruby red eyes that glinted with malevolence. However, it was not the color of his eyes that sent stabs of terror through Bella. It was the way he looked at her. _

"_Please," she said, struggling helplessly against her bonds. "Let me go." She hissed as the ropes burned the skin on her wrists but continued to struggle in vain._

"_I wouldn't do that if I were you," Charlie stated calmly. "I'm hungry enough as it is."_

_Bella's mind was awhirl in confusion. Looking up at her father, she realized that there was something distinctly different about him. The eyes were the first clue, but it was his posture, his body language. He fairly screamed primal and the expression of wanton lust for something painted across his face triggered every alarm in Bella's body._

"_What do you want?" How did you find me?" _

_Charlie chuckled. "I'm a police officer, Bella. It's not hard to pull up your social worker's records when you have contacts. You should know that," he chastised._

"_I see we're getting reacquainted," another voice piped up from behind Bella. Renée stepped into view when she positioned herself next to Charlie. "Hello, baby girl. Long time." Her voice was sickly sweet though her expression mirrored that of Charlie's. _

_Bella's every instinct told her that she needed to get out of this place. Her flight or fight response was working overtime and the surge of adrenaline pumping through her veins was so overwhelming, she was actually getting lightheaded. Through her increasing panic, she noted that both her parents' postures were radiating that predatory vibe that spoke of bad things to come. She also noted that their skin was a snowy white, a color normally seen on corpses rather than the living. _

"_What are you?" Bella finally blurted out. Something was off, she could feel it._

_Charlie actually chuckled, something Bella had never heard coming from her father. "Well now, darlin'. That's an interesting story." He tossed his wife a sidelong glance. "You want to tell it, or should I?"_

_Renée shrugged. "Give her the Cliff notes version. I'm hungry." She shot Bella that look again, and every hair on the back of Bella's neck stood straight up in response._

"_Why do you both keep saying that?" Bella felt goose bumps prickle out all over her forearms. Her imagination was going rampant and she fought hard against the urge to start screaming and yelling for help. She got the sense that wherever they were; they were far away from civilization. She could smell pine and musk; they were probably in some cabin the woods. _

"_All in due time," Charlie replied. He tapped in chin in mock thought. "Where to begin?" Blood-red eyes snapped onto Bella and he delighted in her flinch. "There was this couple with funny colored eyes," the former police officer began, his voice intoning that of a dramatic storyteller. "Your mama and I were jumped in a back alley by these two. I shot the male but the bullet bounced off him like his skin was made of Kevlar." _

"_Oh Jesus, stop with the dramatics!" Renée's voice was nothing short of a growl. "Victoria and James," she said, taking over the story. "That was their names. They gave us new life, said they saw something in us that was similar to them. They made us vampires." She paused and looked at Bella, looking forward to her daughter's reaction._

_Bella blinked stupidly. _'Vampires? They're both crazy,'_ she decided. Her hands worked furiously against her bindings, uncaring of how the rough ropes were gnawing into her skin, causing droplets of blood to erupt to the surface. "You're insane!" she finally shouted. She needed to release the pent up energy that was steadily building up inside her. "Just because you have on colored contact lenses doesn't made you a vampire!" She blatantly ignored the other signs; the deathly pallor of their skin, the way they looked at her like she was the last three-course meal on this planet, the growls reverberating out of Renée's throat. "You let me go!"_

_Renée's patience and willpower had finally snapped. She smelled the blood, smearing itself on Bella's wrists and the ropes and felt the venom pool in her mouth. "I don't think so." Pouncing forward, she blurred toward Bella and latched her mouth onto the girl's forearm. Rock hard teeth tore back the sleeve covering the girl's skin before sinking into sinew and muscle. Bella cried out in pain, pain that exploded from the vicious wound that opened up on her arm near her elbow. She felt her skin tearing open like paper, felt blood starburst through the gaping hole and gasped in renewed pain as Renée began sucking on the wound…_

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"Stop."

Bella halted in her story and looked up into molten gold eyes that had solidified into steely anger. She gulped and unconsciously pressed further back into the headboard, instantly regretting her actions as a bolt of hurt sped across Alice's face. "I'm sorry," the girl apologized sincerely. She reached forward and grasped the pixie vampire's hand, pulling it up to her lips and pressing a soft to her knuckles without conscious thought. When she realized her actions, she blushed, the pink stain spreading across her cheeks visibly.

Alice responded by simply caressing the heated cheek. Then with her other hand, she scrubbed at her face, hoping to erase some of the feral-ness that had scared Bella so. Sighing, she shifted slightly away from the edge of the bed, closer to Bella. Tugging at the girl's arm, she hauled Bella into her embrace, wrapping loose arms around the brunette's middle from behind her.

Bella sank into Alice's arms with vivid relief. She allowed the scent of vanilla to wrap around her like a soft warm blanket, allowing the intoxicating aroma to smoothen out her frazzled nerves. She nuzzled her cheek against the cool skin on the side of Alice's neck. "I don't want to go into anymore details, Al," she said finally, her voice soft and hesitant. _'I don't want to hurt you anymore that I have,'_ she mentally finished.

Alice gritted her teeth, forcibly making her muscles relax despite the tension that was threatening to turn her already granite hard body into a diamond hard statue. Then she recalled something, a spark of a distant memory that zipped unbidden into the forefront of her mind. "Before I ran off, I had a vision of you running through the forest," Alice began. "You hit your head against a rock." She twisted her head so she could look up into chocolate eyes. "How did you escape?"

Bella looked startled. "I thought you only got visions of the future."

Alice simply cocked her head, unable to respond to that. She had long learned that when it came to Bella, some things were simply unexplainable and there was no point in opening up a can of worms that would result in more harm than good.

Bella's face scrunched. She fumbled through her mind, searching through the sea of memories. Then it hit her and she shivered. Alice's arms automatically tightened, securing her. She reveled in the unconscious gesture of comfort. "They liked to nurture me back to an almost healthy state. It wasn't hard given my rapid ability to heal. They even had medical equipment." Bella paused, wondering just how her deceased parents came to acquire the materials. "Between the morphine, my healing ability and them actually giving me three square meals a day, I was like the gift that kept on giving." The laugh that followed was abrasive, dipped in dark humor. "What you saw was them releasing me so they could "_hunt_"." She spat the last word out like an expletive. "I was so hopped up on the morphine that I was actually delusional enough to believe that they were letting me go."

Alice dropped a kiss on the crown of Bella's head, letting her lips linger on the silky soft strands as she stamped down on the tidal wave of anger rising up from the pit of her stomach. She half wished for Renée and Charlie to be alive again so that she could kill them. Slowly. And ten times more painfully and torturously than what they had done to Bella. Then a thought struck her. "Where's this cabin?"

Bella shrugged. "Somewhere in the forest. It was always quite cold, so I assume it's somewhere up in the mountainous area." She gazed into toffee colored eyes, noting the beginnings of the black rimming the edges. "Why?"

"Why didn't we smell you? The smell of your blood would have been carried down by the wind at some point." Alice was trying to piece together a puzzle that did not seem to fit. And it was frustrating her.

Bella could only move her shoulders up and down in a shrug. "I don't know, Alice. There are still a lot of things I don't know and don't quite understand but some of these questions will never be answered." _'Like where are James and Victoria. Do they know who I am? Are they going to come after me?'_ The last thought was enough to send her spiraling into a dizzy panic and she grabbed at Alice's arms with both hands, fingernails digging into the vampire's skin.

Alice nuzzled the side of Bella's head. "Shh," she soothed. "Nothing more is going to happen to you," she swore. "I won't let it. I'd die first."

"NO!" Bella blurted. She twisted around in the confines of Alice's arms until she was straddling the vampire's thighs. She reached up and clutched either side of the vampire's face. "Don't go after them. Don't. Please!" The ring of desperation in her voice was tangible and Bella was near hyperventilating.

Alice's hands circled Bella's wrist. "I'm not going after anybody." Then her eyes widened. "You mean this James and Victoria are still _alive_?" The last word grinded its way out of her throat and turned into a guttural growl.

Bella shook her head helplessly. "I don't know! All I remember is Charlie saying something about them moving around a lot and that they taught him and mom the ropes."

"Stop calling them that," Alice snarled. "They are NOT your parents. They have no right to be anybody's mom or dad, let alone yours." She blew out an aggravated breath. "So they might be out there, they might know about you. _Fan-fuckin-tastic_." She gently extracted herself from behind Bella, leapt off the bed, and began pacing across the room, her posture that of an agitated caged animal.

Bella watched as Alice muttered under her breath, intermittently flung up her arms, snarled and continued to wear a hole in the carpet. When she abruptly stopped and whirled around, Bella nearly tumbled out of bed in wake of the intense gaze that settled onto her face.

"When Emmett found you, you were broken and bleeding." She erected a series of mental walls to block out the images of Bella's destroyed body. "Did you manage to escape then or was this another one of their games? Releasing you only to hunt you back down?"

A tense silence filled the room; it was so thick that Bella felt her throat close up, as if there was a noose looped and tightened around her neck. She thought hard, so hard that she was giving herself a headache. "I don't remember," she admitted softly.

Alice carded shaking fingers through her short hair, creating an even messier look. In fact, her entire body was shaking. She was so drugged up on anger, pure rage born from the deepest part of her soul that it nearly vibrated out of her skin in shockwaves. "I need to do something," Alice said finally. Her fingers clenched and unclenched themselves, her body already unconsciously going into a predatory crouch. Her voice was flat and emotionless; the combination of anger and spikes of adrenaline were making it hard for her not to let every word out of her mouth sound like a thunderous growl.

"You're going to find that cabin." It was not a question. Bella flicked pleading eyes onto Alice's face, smacking straight into an unyielding mask that would not be deterred from what Alice was about to do. "Don't," Bella begged.

Alice clenched her teeth so hard that the muscle in her jaw bunched out starkly. "I need to," she rasped out. She took a step toward the window, not trusting herself around Bella right now. Her beast was roaring loudly, so loudly that she could barely hear anything above the primitive sounds. It thirsted for blood and revenge and she was barely restraining herself from going out on another deer rampage. She felt her control slipping through her fingers like slips of silk. "Please understand," she implored Bella.

Bella looked at Alice, looked at the way the vampire seemed so undone, so lost and yet so filled with fury that she could taste it from where she was. She knew Alice was asking her permission and would stay if Bella denied it but if it helped the Alice…

"Ok," she conceded. Bella made a weak gesture toward the window. "If it's so important to you, go." Tears shimmered in her eyes, blurring her vision and stinging her irises. "But you're taking me with you."

Alice stumbled back as though Bella's words were multiple punches to her stomach. She braced herself against the wall, breathing labored. "You can't be serious." Alice fumbled blindly for a deterrent, a way to make the brunette see sense. "I don't want you to see the place where you were tortured!"

"So you get to have closure but I don't?" Bella shot back. She sprang off the bed and approached Alice with a decidedly determined look. "If you're going, then so am I. I have a right to see where I was abducted and tortured for days on end!"

"Don't do this to me," Alice pleaded. Her own tears curtained her eyes and for the millionth time she cursed their inability to fall and streak down her face. "Haven't you suffered enough? Haven't you made _me_ suffer enough?" The last question was a low blow and she knew it but the thought of Bella visiting that cabin was making her sick to her stomach.

Bella's heart constricted at the agonized look on Alice's face. She took the last steps forward and cupped Alice's cheek. "This is something I need to do," she said. "We can move forward after this." Her eyes fixated itself upon dimmed honeyed eyes. "Please," she whispered.

Alice pulled away. "No, we won't." Her legs wobbled and she gave into gravity, sinking down onto the floor in a heap of tangled limbs. The vision she received days ago came back to haunt her with startling clarity.

Bella was stupid with confusion. "I don't understand." This time it was she who knelt down in front of Alice. She placed a hand on the shock of messy sable hair. "What aren't you telling me?"

Alice continued to sit on the floor, head buried in her hands as she contemplated the daunting request dangling in front of her like a death sentence. She ran through scenario after scenario in her head, finding no plausible happy conclusion. The future was set. There was nothing she could do.

Bella felt a subtle shift in Alice's demeanor but before she could question it, the vampire straightened up. A resigned look resided in the depths of her eyes, but she pulled herself to her feet, bringing Bella up with her. "Ok." Her voice came out bruised and broken. She sounded like a defeated soldier, who knew death was approaching and was ready to accept her fate.

Bella started at the look on Alice's face but was more disturbed by the tone of her voice. "Ok, what?" she asked carefully.

"Get dressed," was Alice's reply. "We're going to find that cabin."

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	20. Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit

**A/N** - The title of this chapter loosely translates to "what nourishes me also destroys me." It's Latin and yes, it's one of Angelina Jolie's tattoos. I'm unsure as to the origin of the quote but I just want to point out that it's NOT mine, I'm just borrowing it. I used it because it fit the chapter well. Enjoy, guys.

**Chapter 20 – Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit**

_One Month Later_

Bella woke up to a hunger that was as foreign to her as the gross national product of Kazakhstan. She bolted up in bed, sheets of dark royal purple pooling at her knees as torrents of sweat ran down the sides of her face. Grimacing, she instinctively wrapped both arms around her stomach, hoping to quench the burning sensation that resided within the pit of her stomach. It was as if the fires of hell had been set aflame within her stomach walls; biting fervently down on her lip, she inhaled deeply before releasing the puff of air with exaggerated slowness. Bella continued in this manner until her stomach dulled to a throbbing ache that was akin to someone embedding a bag of newly sharpened razor blades into the lining of her stomach.

Teeth clenched so tight that the muscles in her jaw jumped out in a bunched knot, Bella stumbled out of bed, almost tossing herself out of the door in her haste to make a beeline to the kitchen. Going down the stairs proved more challenging than easy as Bella was assaulted by waves of hunger that seemed intent on gnawing a gigantic cavernous hole through her stomach muscles. She had nearly tumbled down the remaining flight of stairs and would have no doubt fallen flat on her face had Esme not suddenly appeared and grasped her elbow in a firm but gentle hold. The matriarch, concern etched across the gentle planes of her face and an inquisitive question in her eye, had escorted Bella down, one baby step at a time.

"What's the matter?" came the casual inquiry, though Esme was not fooling anyone with that particular worried tone.

"Hungry," was all Bella could spit out. "Really, very, hungry." So hungry was the girl that she did not even contemplate just how odd this kind of hunger was. It was all encompassing, demanding every nugget of the brunette's attention until it was all she could focus on.

"Breakfast," the motherly vampire confirmed. Fingers still laced around Bella's elbow, she led the girl into the kitchen, setting her on the tall stool behind the kitchen island. She wound smartly around the corner of the counter and proceeded to pull out what looked like half the cereal boxes stocked at the local supermarket.

Bella watched, half amused and half astounded as box after colorful box of cereal popped out from one of the suspended cabinets. She fought to keep her jaw from sagging as Esme paused to rummage through a bottom drawer, extracting from it a cherry-red ceramic cereal bowl. Placing it in front of Bella, along with a shiny stainless steel spoon, she then continued to pull out yet another batch of cereal boxes. So flabbergasted by the scene in front of her, the girl managed to momentarily forget about the ravenous appetite that was scratching at the walls of her stomach.

Now armed with a cherry-red bowl, a spoon and an army of cereal boxes, Bella could only form twin moons with her dramatically widened eyes as her brain frantically searched itself for an appropriate response. Displayed in front of her was every cereal known to man; the brand names and the color of the boxes ranged from the yellow _Coco Pops_ to the purple _Granola_ to the Red _Fruit Loops_. Despite her stomach twisting into itself, Bella simply sat there, staring slack-jawed as Esme deposited three more boxes in front of her, her face donning a decidedly sheepish expression when she finally caught the stunned look on Bella's face.

"My apologies, Bella." The matriarch fumbled around for an excuse, knowing that if she could blush, her cheeks would be flaming red by now. She set a box of _Cap'n Crunch_ next to a rectangular red and blue box of _Weet-Bix_. "There were so many to choose from at the store and well…" She shuffled her feet slightly, a move that Bella found instantaneously endearing. "I didn't know your preferences so…" She gestured weakly at the battery of boxes that sat merrily on the marble counter.

Bella giggled despite herself and despite the gnawing hunger that was gnashing its impatient jaws at the pit of her stomach. She reached over and patted Esme's arm. "S'ok, Esme," she replied. "Thank you." Extending a hand, she reached for the box of _Lucky Charms_ and pulled it toward her. As she slid a finger under the flap of the box, Esme placed a carton of milk at her nine and with a small smile retreated to a cutting board waiting patiently at the opposite end of the island.

Hunger wracked Bella's body, returning in full force as the girl got over the shock of the scene in front of her. Bella was so plainly hungry, that she was practically vibrating on the stool and hands shaking, she tore a hole in the wrapper and shook the box over the cereal bowl. Out tumbled a multicolored stream of colored oats and marshmallows, its shapes ranging from clovers to horseshoes to stars. They tinkled happily into the bowl and Bella continued to shake the cereal loose from the box until the bowl was almost filled to its brim. Setting the box down and reaching for the milk she poured in a generous amount, nearly overdoing it as the colored cereal floated dangerously close to the edges of the cherry-red bowl. Quickly dropping the milk carton back onto the counter, Bella's fingers latched onto the spoon and in quick succession, drowned the rounded tip into the sea of milk and multi-shaped colored oats. She scooped a big spoonful into her mouth, almost moaning in orgasmic relief as the cold milk slid down her throat like the purest nectar and the sweetness of the cereal danced a merry tune on her neglected taste buds.

Spoonful after spoonful was shoveled with frightening speed into Bella's eager mouth but she allowed her eyes to wander, as her mouth was kept occupied. Eyes rotated to where Esme stood, expertly wielding a bread knife as she cut slices of white bread, lathered liberally with peanut butter and jelly, into triangles. Sensing an audience, she looked up into Bella's chocolate eyes, raising an eyebrow as she was treated to the sight of Bella demolishing her breakfast like a demon possessed. "For appearances sakes," she said simply, her hands a virtual blur as they continued to cut and dissect. She nudged her chin in Bella's direction. "You seem very hungry."

Bella nodded absently, both to Esme's explanation and to her observation. Her attention snapped back to her meal when the flat end of her spoon met the bottom of the bowl with a soft _clink_. Frowning, Bella looked down, wondering where her breakfast went. Then another thought occurred to her. "Where is everybody?" For the first time, Bella acknowledged that she could detect nobody in the house but her and Esme.

"Hunting," came the easy reply. Esme pulled a small pile of zip-lock bags toward her and started rationing the cut sandwiches into the bags. "Carlisle's at the hospital already though."

"Hmm..." It was the only sound that would alert Esme to Bella paying attention to what she was saying. The girl was in fact, staring at her empty bowl with such a concentrated look of consternation that it was almost unnerving. After what seemed like a long minute of tense silence, Bella shrugged and reached forward to pick up the box of _Frosties_ when a bolt of white-hot pain lanced through her body like a serrated knife. It originated from the depths of her stomach, shooting up her esophagus and grinding non too gently at the walls of her throat before exploding out into the confines of her mouth with all the grace of a violently erupting volcano.

The pain was so sudden, so overwhelming that for a split second, Bella simply sat frozen as the feeling of her blood turning into red-hot lava traveled down every vein and seared every nerve. The next wave of inconceivable agony radiating from her stomach smacked Bella back into reality with the force of a Mac truck. The streaks of pain thundering over her trembling frame were so fierce that it was all Bella could do not to retch on the spot. Gasping, she pushed back off her stool; it clattered wordlessly to the tiled ground but Bella paid it no mind. She raced round the counter, barely making it to the sink before she began throwing up what was her breakfast, her body heaving and jerking with each retch.

Esme reached Bella almost the same time it took for the girl to bolt toward the kitchen sink. She gathered back a shock of damp, messy chestnut brown hair as Bella began dry heaving into the sink, fingers clenching the edges of the basin so hard that her knuckles stood out whitely in vivid relief.

"Bella?" Esme's voice was the epitome of worry. "Bella, honey, what's wrong?" She winced as Bella's body flinched under the onslaught of bile and recently ingested cereal that was now clawing its way up her throat with cruel intent. She rubbed soothing circles over Bella's t-shirt clad back as the girl continued to vomit into the sink.

"BELLA!"

Esme nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected roar of the brunette's name. She turned to see the blur that was Alice jumping into the kitchen from the balcony, her face marred with fear and her untamed hair windblown to the point where it spiked out in all directions. A drying streak of rusty-red deer blood ran down the corner of her lip, ending in a splattered stain on the front of her unusually ordinary and plain white t-shirt. Esme deduced that Alice must have been assaulted by a vision mid-feed; the elfin vampire was by now so apt at feeding that she normally left no evidence of her hunting of the forest animals on her.

"What's the matter with her?" Esme demanded as Alice all but shouldered her mother out of the way to tend to Bella.

"I don't know," Alice bit out tersely. "I was hunting when I got a vision of Bella—"

She waved a hand at the scene in front of her to indicate that this was what she saw.

Both vampires waited, breaths baited as Bella's gagging grew lesser and slower until she finally fell silent. A shaky hand reached up to turn on the faucet and she cupped her hand to gather some of the water to rinse out her mouth. That done, she rinsed out the sink, noting that whilst the unbearable pain in her stomach has lessened, her abdominal muscles still quivered under the insistent throbbing that still emanated from her stomach walls.

"Bella?" Alice's dulcet voice was starched in anxiety. She bounced on the balls of her feet, hands twitching in apprehension.

Bella turned her suddenly exhausted body around. Using the counter for support, she leaned heavily against it, one arm automatically going to her stomach in an attempt to quell the throbbing ache. "I woke up really hungry," she rasped, vocal cords rubbed raw from the retching. "Had some cereal," she made a weak gesture to the assembly of cereal boxes still lined on the island. "Then this." She indicated to the sink.

"Call Carlisle," Alice ordered. She moved forward and lifted Bella into her arms, ignoring the half-hearted protest bursting forth from the brunette's lips. She marched them into the living room, depositing Bella gently on the couch. Then she began an inventory of the girl, noting immediately the unnaturally gray pallor Bella's face had taken and the way Bella's body shook, like a drug addict who was long overdue for a fix. When she moved a cool hand to the girl's forehead, she was shocked to find Bella's body temperature nearly mirrored her own.

"You're cold!" Alice exclaimed. She began rubbing her hands up and down Bella's arms, in a futile attempt to instill some heat back into the obviously freezing girl. "In fact, you're freezing. Jesus, Bella, your lips are blue!" Alice's voice had taken on a panicked squeak and she reached over to yank a comforter from the end of the couch. Shaking it open, she tossed it over Bella's shoulders, wrapping it tightly around the brunette. Then she took stock of the windows and balcony doors of the house, blurring around to close whichever ones were open. Winter was fast approaching, practically knocking on their doors but the house was kept warm, and the central heating installed and turned on for Bella's sake.

Sprinting back to Bella, Alice nearly teetered over her own booted feet as she watched the brunette shiver fiercely under the comforter. The girl was covered in a light sheen of cold sweat and she seemed to grow paler by the minute despite Alice having turned up the heat in the house. She hovered in front of Bella, not wanting to touch her due to the coolness of her own body but fighting the overwhelming urge to bundle the shaking brunette into her arms. Feeling utterly helpless and hating the feeling with every fiber in her body, Alice could do nothing but wait.

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The screech of tires alerted Alice to Carlisle's arrival. Alice tilted her weight onto her right foot, intent on running to the front door but Esme beat her to it, flitting gracefully to open the heavy mahogany door to reveal a harried looking Carlisle. He momentarily paused to brush a quick kiss across Esme's lips and caressed his wife's cheek before making his way into the living room. He almost blanched as his eyes soaked in the sight of Bella trembling like a leaf in the wind, the comforter wrapped so tightly around the girl it seemed almost like a second skin. What his medical gaze saw however, set off alarm bells in the back of his head. Bella looked like she was on the verge of hypothermia; her lips were stained a pale blue, the tips of her ears tinged a blue-gray pallor color as well. She shivered consistently, but her eyes were glazed over, eyebrows scrunched as her gaze flickered between Alice, Carlisle and Esme. It was as if she were trying to figure out who they were or what was happening. Another symptom indicating hypothermia: possible amnesia.

Dropping his doctor's bag, Carlisle pulled out a digital thermometer, gently inserting the tip into Bella's ear as he knelt down beside her. When the equipment beeped, he extracted it, silencing a curse that knocked at the back of his lips when the thermometer read 90°. "Her core temperature is far below normalcy. We need to get her warm, fast." He turned toward Esme. "Run a bath, a hot one." The words were barely strewn out of his mouth when Esme bolted up the stairs. "Alice," he addressed her as he turned. "Grab the duvet in the linen closet. The thick one."

Alice was gone and back in mere seconds, a woolen blanket, thick and fluffy, tucked under her arm. Without waiting for instructions, she repeated her earlier action with the comforter; shaking it open and tossing it around Bella's shoulders. She lifted the girl up in her arms and shimmied the bottom of the duvet under Bella until the girl was cocooned from head to toe. Then Alice deposited her back on the couch, rocking back on her own heels, wringing her hands in agitation.

"Carlisle what's going on?" Her voice was aggravated. "People don't just get hypothermia. It's not like she was walking around outside in her underwear!"

Carlisle chewed at his lip but before he could answer, Esme blew down the stairs, announcing the bath ready. Alice picked up the shaking Bella, and doing her best not to jostle the suffering girl, ran up the stairs and into her room. She burst through the adjacent door to the bathroom and was instantly waft with curling clouds of steam.

"Just put her straight into the tub," Carlisle instructed, coming up behind the pair. "Esme is making her some hot chocolate. We need to get warm liquids into her as well."

Alice gently deposited Bella into the bathtub, the water seemingly too hot for her very cold skin. She bit down on her lower lip as Bella mewled, clinging desperately to Alice as the vampire lowered the girl into the steaming tub. "C'mon, honey," she coaxed. "It's just water. Just relax."

Bella winced as the hot water engulfed her shivering frame. It was akin to a thousand needles poking at her skin and she did not like the sensation one bit. Grabbing Alice's arm, she tried valiantly to lift herself out but Alice held her down, doing her best not to look stricken for she knew the simple act of immersing a hypothermic person in a bathtub full of hot water was anything but pleasant.

"Here." Esme suddenly materialized through the steam that still glided throughout the bathroom, even though the open door released enough of it so that the tiled walls of the room were now visible. The motherly vampire pressed a steaming mug of hot chocolate into Alice's hands then stood back, watching the scene unfold with pensive eyes.

Alice lifted the mug to Bella's chattering lips. "Drink this, baby," she said. She titled the mug, allowing the sweet warm drink to slide into Bella's mouth. She was severely unprepared for Bella's reaction to swallowing the beverage though; the girl went rigid under her touch and threw up the one mouthful into the tub. She gasped and started clawing at her throat, almost as if Alice had given her a cupful of acid to drink instead of hot chocolate.

"Carlisle!" Alice wrestled with the girl, trying to calm her down, the act of restraining a thrashing Bella causing splashes of bathwater to topple over the edge and onto the tiled floor. The mug of hot chocolate fell from Alice's grasp, disappearing under the tub of wavy bathwater. Hot chocolate oozed out, marring the transparency of the water in the tub, the murky brown stain spreading and stretching until it dissolved and merged with the now slightly cloudy bathwater.

"She can't drink?" Carlisle was at a loss. Something about Bella's condition seemed wrong and the doctor had to ponder at the symptoms and possibilities rampaging throughout his head even as Alice yelled at him to do something. Then a subtle click sounded in his head as a theory crept up unexpectedly.

"She needs blood."

"What?" Twin voices, resonating from Esme and Alice in unison echoed throughout the bathroom.

Carlisle fidgeted under the incredulous stares his wife and daughter were giving him. "She had some characteristics of a vampire," he explained. "Maybe she inherited our diet too."

Alice shook her head, even as she continued holding Bella by the shoulders. The poor girl was swallowing dramatically, her face screwed up in intense concentration even as her body quivered under the cooling water. "No." The elfin vampire shook her head vehemently, sending deliberately styled spikes of sable hair wriggling in all directions. "No. She eats normal food. Esme said she just had cereal!" Alice had swung into a void of denial; the last thing she wanted for Bella was to adapt to a diet of blood. Somewhere, deep down, Alice knew that it would be the straw that would break the already fragile camel's back.

"Maybe she needs both kinds of nourishment," Carlisle replied, ever the voice of reason. "Look at her! The bathwater's not helping; her fingers are half blue! She could go into shock, Alice and we all know that wheeling her into the ER is not an option. Her stomach rejected the cereal _and_ the hot chocolate, making it obvious that she can't ingest human food right now." He pointed at the quaking girl. "She still seems to be hungry. What other choice do we have? Name one and I'll do it." He pinned his daughter down with a no-nonsense stare.

Alice hated that look. That _'you know I'm right so quit being stubborn and get with the program'_ look that all parents seem to perfect. She gritted her teeth so hard that one could hear the grinding of it bounce off the bathroom walls. After juggling option after option in her head, and finding no plausible way out, Alice gave in, shoulders sagging in resignation. One snowy white arm emerged from the water, sheets of it dripping off the appendage in transparent rivulets. Alice shook her arm, dispelling some of the liquid before reaching into the back pocket of her jeans. Pulling out a cell phone, she flipped it open and pressed a speed dial button, before practically shoving the device onto her ear.

"Alice," came the Southern drawl. Alice recognized the thick Southern burr of Jasper's voice; his accent usually came out in full force after he was fully sedated with blood.

"We need takeout," was all Alice could say before she shut the phone, almost crushing the device in her hand. Dropping the cell back into her pocket, her attention returned to Bella; the brunette had one hand latched around her stomach, pressing into it as if something were alive inside her and was threatening to chew its way out, one painful munch at a time. The other hand had its fingers leeched around her throat, squeezing and massaging even as the girl tried to swallow. It was as if her throat was suddenly on fire, its walls torched with gasoline and she just so happened to swallow a lit match.

"Hold on, Bella, hold on," Alice repeated. She knew Jasper would have detected the sharp, distraught note in her tone and hoped he would waste no time in coming back. Takeout was code for bringing back blood; it was rarely used as the Cullens would diligently set time aside for their hunting activities but sometimes something would come up and someone would volunteer to bring back a meal. Usually it was Carlisle who would request this, being that his line of work was the most hectic and the hours unpredictable. That and the fact that he was around humans that bled from various wounds for hours on end; Carlisle's willpower against the smell of human blood was unparalleled but even he had his breaking point.

For the second time that day, that wretched feeling of helplessness descended onto Alice like a dark plague as she was forced to wait, yet again for help to come.

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Jasper was still feeling the residing throes of blood-lust when his cell phone tinkered. What feelings of euphoria, brought on by the thrill of the hunt and the nourishment of blood, quickly drained away after receiving Alice's cryptic call. Forcing himself to refocus, his soldier trained eyes quickly spotted an easy prey: a fawn had wandered out of the herd, taking to grazing at lush green grass that was obviously enticing enough to lure it away from the safety of the group. Crouching low, Jasper had only to sprint and leap a couple of feet before his lanky form dropped lightly on top of the unsuspecting animal. A quick snap of the neck ensured its quick, painless death and Jasper hurriedly slung the carcass over his shoulder before spinning toward the direction of the house.

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Alice sensed Jasper's arrival seconds before he bounded through the front door, hesitating momentarily in the hallway until Alice hollered at him to come upstairs.

Now, all four vampires were cramped into Alice's bathroom, the dead fawn lying at their feet. Jasper had been given a quick briefing of recent events and as he stood before Bella, he forcibly tamped down his empath abilities; the agony and misery rolling off Bella was quite overwhelming.

Alice worried the inside of her cheek and tortured eyes, the color of golden toffee sought Carlisle's, begging for an alternative. Carlisle shook his head sadly. Alice turned away, tears brimming in her eyes. Praying for strength, she made a small incision at the fawn's neck, her granite hard nails nicking the jugular as easy as if she were dipping her finger in soft butter. Immediately a wine-red trickle began seeping out, the aroma of blood, thick with iron and life unfurled into the bathroom, draining the gold out of both Esme and Jasper's eyes.

"Out," Carlisle ordered as a tiny hiss escaped unintended from Esme's lips. He motioned his son and wife out of the bathroom and closed the door, locking himself, Alice and Bella in. Leaning heavily against the doorframe, he watched as Alice lifted the fawn carcass toward Bella, a gnat of worry and guilt jumping around in his windpipe.

"Just…just suck on the wound, Bella," Alice coaxed. Her voice was bruised with pain; this was one aspect of vampire life that she wished she could shield Bella from but apparently the Fates liked to be cruel.

What little color Bella had left on her face completely drained away as the girl went completely ashen at the sight of the animal carcass held in front of her like a sacrificial offering. She stared at the leaking wound, morbid fascination and disgust warring at the insides of her skull. She could smell the blood, the tangy irony smell that was the dark-red liquid. Instead of it being appealing to her, it seemed to make her more nauseous. "I can't," she whimpered, turning her head away. She tucked herself further under the water, which was alarmingly hot but did little to heat up her still trembling body that was tainted blue from the cold eating at her from the inside out.

"Bella, please." Alice could see just how much this was hurting the girl and she hated herself for being the cause of Bella's pain. Nevertheless, if Carlisle was right, then this was the only way. "Try. For me. Please." It was a low call, using the "for me" card but Alice was running out of options.

Tears streamed down Bella's face. The pleading tone in Alice's voice, laced with anguish, was hard to ignore. Swallowing hard, she bit down harshly on her lower lip, took a deep breath and lowered her lips to the wound. Her tongue peeked out, licking at the dripping cut and she immediately reared back, spitting the few droplets of blood out into the tub. "Urgh!" Bella continued spitting, absolutely revolted at how horrendous the taste was.

"Carlisle, this isn't working." Alice tossed the caress across the bathroom in a fit of agitation; it landed with a solid thump against the toilet bowl. "You were wrong."

Carlisle dragged confused fingers through his blond locks, sending it into disarray from its normally immaculate style. "I don't know what else we can do." He was momentarily distracted as there was a squeak from the downstairs front door and a murmur of voices, announcing the presence of the rest of the Cullens. No doubt Esme and Jasper were filling them on what was going on.

"What about human blood?"

Alice's voice was so quiet and slight that even Carlisle's enhanced hearing nearly missed it. He locked eyes with Alice and almost flinched at the swirls of pain swimming in those golden depths. Then he frowned. "It might work. I have a few bags in the fridge in my office." He unlocked the bathroom door and exited the bathroom.

Alice could hear Carlisle rummaging around in his office, could hear the low buzz of her family's voices in the living room but all this served as background noise. What she was really concentrating on was the unstoppable chatter of Bella's teeth as they clattered against each other in wake of her body's shivering state. Or the way Bella's heart thumped erratically, her pulsing jumping in beats that screamed abnormal. Or the way her stomach growled like a beast unfed for months. That was what her ears were sensitive to. Bella's every breath and heartbeat. They served to remind the vampire that Bella was still alive. And for now, that was what counted.

Carlisle returned just as Alice's eyes raked over Bella's frame, taking stock of any new problems. The smell of human blood assaulted her sense of smell and she immediately stopped breathing, her concentration on Bella broken as she fought to contain the beast within her.

"Do you need to leave?" Carlisle was holding the mug as far away from Alice as he could, to the point where his arm was outstretched away from his body. One curt shake of the head from Alice prompted Carlisle to kneel down next to her. "Bella?" He waited until Bella focused glazed eyes on him. "Try this." He pushed the mug into her hands. "It's AB positive, your blood type."

Bella was nearly traumatized when she got a good whiff at the blood in the mug. It was warm; Carlisle must have heated it up in the microwave. And to the girl's dismay, it smelt good. Her brain was shrieking blue bloody murder at her, practically bawling out the fact that it was so wrong that Bella should find a mug of human blood tantalizing. But instinct had overridden the howls; her hands wrapped blue stained fingers around the warm mug and had lifted the edge to blue-gray tinted lips. Greedily, Bella gulped down the thick, slightly congealed liquid, relishing the tangy taste of iron and the way it soothed the burning ache in her throat before recoating the lining of her stomach with comforting layers of warmth. She could feel the gnawing hunger ebbing away with each swallow and it seemed only seconds before the girl drained the mug, her tongue flickering out to lick at the residue blood that clung to the sides of the mug.

Silence lorded over the bathroom. Carlisle observed Bella, noting the blue tinged appendages fading back to its milky white color almost immediately. The girl's lanky frame was desisting from its shaking state and his doctor-trained eyes could see bunched shoulder muscles slacken and relax. Molten gold eyes tracked a visual path to the brunette's face, mouth almost releasing a relieved sigh as the color crept back into her cheeks. In fact, the still slightly steaming bathwater had painted Bella's cheeks a rosy pink. A good sign; it meant that her core body temperature was climbing back up to normal. But there was something…

"Look at her eyes!" Alice's exclamation of surprise beat out Carlisle's as two sets of amber eyes, a pair rimmed black, was awash with equal parts awe and shock, locked onto Bella's. Once the color of warm chocolate, the irises were now a rich dark brown, so dark they were almost black save for the faint streaks of silver-blue that shot through the dark chocolate color.

"Well, isn't that interesting," Carlisle murmured. He moved closer for a better look; the bolts of silver-blue were faint and almost undetectable with human eyes unless looked at from close range but for Alice and Carlisle, their vampiric eyes could make out its jagged patterns as it cut through the swaths of dark brown.

"Mirror?" Bella requested weakly, needing to see what had rendered the vampires so speechless and confounded.

Alice walked over to the vanity, picking up a makeup compact case. Flipping it open, she wordlessly handed it to Bella, who seconds after spying her reflection in the mirror gasped aloud. Alice winced at the sound.

"Whoa." It seemed to be the only word Bella's brain could formulate. She stared, mouth forming a perfect "O" at eyes that could not possibly be hers. Now the color of deep dark chocolate, it was also patterned with lightning lines of the most curious combination of silver-blue. "Is this permanent?" The question was directed at Carlisle.

The doctor shrugged, neither a vampire nor medical explanation coming to mind. "I honestly don't know Bella," he admitted. "But what we do know is that you apparently need blood to sustain yourself. But you can eat human food too." He mentally calculated how long it had been since Bella had been administered with vampire venom. "Based on my calculations, you don't need blood very often. Every few months, maybe. And a mug seemed to do you just fine. But it seems you can only drink your blood type." A myriad of theories began invading his mind at this discovery but he needed more pondering before coming to a solid conclusion.

Bella nodded, dismayed and horrified that she was now subjected to drinking blood. And not just any blood, _human_ blood. She was hit with the memory of how she chugged down that mug and felt shame and self-disgust pour into her veins. Looking down she dragged a finger through the cooling bathwater. "Can I come out now?"

Carlisle nodded. "I'll leave you to get cleaned up. I'm due back at the hospital." He reached forward and gently extracted the empty mug from Bella's grip. "We'll talk more when I come home?" The question was directed at both Alice and Bella. When they nodded, Carlisle bade them goodbye and left.

Bella rose to her feet, water running down her body in sheets. Her eyes found Alice's, dark chocolate shot through with silver-blue slivers to honey-hued circled with a thin line of coal-black. For what seemed like hours they simply locked gazes, the inevitable tears building up in their eyes until it clouded the colors of their irises, blurring their vision.

Finally, as if waking from a spell, Alice moved to the edge of the tub and mutely held out a hand. Bella took it and when their hands touched, Bella and Alice knew. Looking into each other's eyes they knew. They knew things would never be the same again.

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"Alice." Bella hovered in the doorway, looking as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her face was drawn, eyes sunken in as the skin under was smudged with black. Her posture was the very picture of defeat and tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. She leaned all her weight against the frame of the door, as if it were the only structure left to keep her from falling.

Alice was sitting on the edge of the bed and she lifted her head painfully slow, as though it were simply too heavy to be engaging it in such a simple act. Tears curtained the golden orbs but even through the sheen of venom-glazed tears, the evidence of the vampire's pain and resignation was clear.

"I know," Alice whispered. Her voice was choked and broken, each syllable barely able to formulate in her throat as the elfin vampire felt them tumble out of quivering lips in a jumbled mess. "I know," she repeated, her voice soft, defeated. She swallowed, hard. Then her eyes snapped onto Bella's with startling clarity.

"You're leaving."

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	21. Anywhere But Here

**Chapter 21 – Anywhere But Here**

Silence can be a fickle thing. In the aftermath of lovemaking, the silence that descends upon a room, tangy with the smell of passion, can bring about a sense of comfort and satisfaction. This silence is welcomed, luring the entwined lovers to a sleep infused with drowsy warmth and happy dreams. In a meeting of awkward proportions between two exes who have not crossed paths for many years after a painful separation, silence can be an awkward entity, drowning both parties into a vacuum of discomfort and self-consciousness. Silence can speak louder than words or actions ever could. When a partner accuses their lover of infidelity and the latter fails to retaliate verbally, the silence that hangs between them takes on the characteristics of a specter; it cannot be seen but the temperature in the room plummets and its presence can be felt through the gale of emotions running rampant. Silence is also a tool, wielded like a double-edged blade, harnessed for intimidation or taken as a vow of consent. Yes, silence, just like the ever-changing weather, can be fickle.

The silence that sat between Alice and Bella, however, was a different kind of animal, born from the womb of a dizzying combination of guilt, regret, pain and suffering. Dominating every nuance and corner of the shadow painted room, the silence that pervaded this intimate space created from four walls was undeniable.

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Bella slumped against the sturdy structure of the doorframe, her entire weight leaning against it with such physical heavy dependence that the girl was half-terrified that it may crack under the pressure of it. She could feel her world crashing down on her, splintering into a million pieces of which there was no chance of resurrection. She would know; she was the one who had brought the hammer down, slamming its blunt weight onto the fragile sphere she had barely begun to build and watched it shatter to smithereens.

"How…" Bella allowed the question to trail off, the first word barely reaching maturity through the open seam between her lips as her mind screamed out the answer. Another voice vied for dominance, shrieking at the stupidity of that question, for Bella knew full well just how Alice knew of a decision she had barely come to discover. But there was another reason for the voicing of that question: Bella had very few tools in her arsenal left and the silence that encompassed the room was too terrible to bear. She needed a word, a ragged whisper of breath, even the thud of her own body dropping to the ground, to pierce through the armor of silence that bore down upon her like a deadly plague.

"I had a vision." Alice answered the question anyway, her voice flat and emotionless though her face had smoothen out into a mask of passivity that was almost eerily serene. It was as though she had been privy to this information long before Bella herself had come to be aware of its presence. Bella pounced on this knowledge like a savage beast long starved of a meal; she would have clung onto any lifeline, any last tattered ragged thread of communication so long as it kept this stilted conversation going. Anything to keep the jaws of silence from swallowing them whole.

"When did you know?" The question was pained, loaded with unequaled guilt and Bella felt her throat scraped raw from such naked emotion that channeled its way through her vocal cords and up the walls of her throat.

"The day you woke from your coma."

Bella felt each word like a physical blow, so much so, that she staggered where she stood. She felt the beginnings of tears; they prickled at the edges of her eyes, stinging droplets of impatient liquid wanting to fall but forced to wait until the emotional floodgates opened. She forced herself to look up, to seek out the elfin vampire's gaze…and flinched when their eyes met; Alice's face may have been the epitome of resigned serenity but her eyes bespoke of a different tale. Eyes of crushed liquid gold held more sorrow and anguish than Bella ever thought was possible for any individual, vampire or human to feel. It was so intense, so present that Bella felt its pull, as if Alice's eyes were twin whirlpools, sucking Bella under its umbrella of pain. Unable to confront such blatant emotion, the brunette looked away, her own eyes of bitter dark chocolate, patterned with silver-blue, flickering a path to the floor where looming shadows stretched and yawned, lapping up to Bella and retreating with every overlap of cloud across the moonlight that shown in through the window.

"All this time, all these weeks…you knew." A pregnant pause as Bella scrambled to articulate her sentences. "How can you stand it?" Her eyes wavered back to Alice, unable to resist drowning those golden depths despite the swirls of terrible emotion wracking havoc within them.

"I love you."

Not _"I loved you"_. Not the past tense. The simplicity of Alice's answer threw Bella off-balance, hitting her blindside with such force that she was left discombobulated and bewildered by those three words. "What?" The girl regretted the question for confirmation the minute it came out of her mouth; she did not want Alice to repeat those three words.

But repeat Alice did. "I love you." Three simple words, bound in such complex devotion and yet hindered by the vampire's obvious pain by the current state of affairs, picked a tangent, melancholy tune on Bella's heartstrings. The three words could be substituted for three chords on a guitar, each one ringing out plaintively a melody enriched with sincerity but peppered with an underlining of grief. Had it been a song, it would have no doubt rendered the listener to an aching heart and the onset of tears.

Bella's mind raced in response to those uttered words. Closing the door behind her, her legs moved on autopilot, walking a determined path to where Alice sat, perched still as a statue on the edge of the bed. _"I love you."_ Bella had never heard those words uttered to her before. Never thought she would live long enough to hear them directed at her with such brutal honesty and truth. The way Alice phrased it; it was hard for Bella to explain. She had heard these three words strung together before in movies, read them endlessly in books but the way Alice spoke them to her made Bella feel as though they were spoken for the first time in history. Created, molded and spoken for her and her alone. And it hurt.

Bella reached Alice and knelt down in front of her, hands reaching out to cradle Alice's in her palms. "Take it back." The girl's voice was harsh with pain. She squeezed Alice's hands as she repeated her request, the guilt riddling her voice so evident and loud.

Alice smiled down Bella, a small smile that told Bella that, no; she was not going to take it back. Because it was the truth. "There are a lot of things I've regretted in my life, Bella." Alice's mask of passivity wrinkled away to one of contemplation as her mind pulled out the drawer of memories that no doubt contained Alice's regrets. "But," The vampire paused, less for dramatic effect but still had the same outcome as she gathered her thoughts. "Loving you is not one of them."

The kiss was unexpected. It was at once, loving and needy, gentle yet rough, communicating such a poignant note of desperation that it took Alice's non-existent breath away. She allowed Bella to press her against the bedpost, allowed her to cup both hands on either side of her cold cheeks as her lips assaulted her own. Alice responded in turn, sinking both hands into Bella's hair and carding fingers through the silky texture even as she cradled the back of Bella's head, forcing their already fused mouths closer together. Lips tripped over each other in a feverish pace, tugging and sucking. Mouths open to allow a tongue to chase the other into a warm, wet cavern where the muscles would writhe and dance to a rhythm neither had trouble recognizing. One set of teeth gnashed at a full bottom lip, hard enough to leave neat lines of indentations on the surface but not hard enough to draw blood. Another lower lip was suckled on furiously, drawing out the sweetness and uniqueness that was the owner's scent and taste. In a maddening clash of lips, teeth and tongue, the kiss between Bella and Alice was primordial as they both used the action to communicate their unspoken needs, to wipe away stains of guilt, to voice out a desire long denied.

Bella was the first to pull away, her need for oxygen making her already clouded head dizzy from the lack of air intake. She rested her forehead against Alice's, breathing ragged and her heart pounding so loudly that it was rattling the rack of ribs encasing the thumping organ.

Alice ran a soothing hand down Bella's back, drawing light circles with her fingers as she waited for the girl to get her pulse and breathing back under control. She marveled at the way Bella's back muscles quivered and jumped at her touch, the tiny tremors that would quake through her body as Alice's fingers traced the bumps of her spine. She resisted the urge to track her fingers under the material of Bella's shirt, to feel warm skin against her cold one, to soak in the warmth of a human body that was denied to vampires.

Bella pressed a small kiss to the tip of Alice's nose. "I love you too," she finally admitted though the way she said it made it sound as if she were announcing her own death sentence. Voice low with the guilty thrill of finally saying those words back, to acknowledge that that kind of bond existed between them, brought the velvet feel of elation and the violent reality of the situation raining down upon Bella like a hailstorm of boulders.

Alice's eyes fluttered close at the intimate contact and those three words. Never had she heard those words spoken with equal parts devotion and pain. Forcing her eyes back open, she looked straight at Bella. "Where will you go?"

Bella flinched and expanded the distance between them until Alice caught hold of her hand, securing her in place. The look in the vampire's eyes were steadying, anchoring Bella to the ground, to the bed, to Alice. The understanding, so unconcealed and open on Alice's face forced Bella to realize that the vampire deserved nothing but the truth. She was beginning to realize just how painful a lesson this was; to learn that the truth really did hurt. It hurt not only her but also all those who were connected to her; the pain streamlining down the ties that bound her and Alice together.

"Anywhere but here," was the whispered answer. Bella's tone was reeking of shame and that well-preserved guilt again reared its ugly head.

Alice tried hard not to let the words sting but it was a futile gesture. "Away from me," she corrected flatly.

The biting tears piling up at the corners of her eyes came back with a vengeance and Bella felt that last tendril of resistance slip unrestrained through her fingers like sand through a sieve as the tears fell unbidden. She felt them slide down gaunt cheeks, trailing a hot path from her eyes to the tips of her chin before they splashed harmlessly onto the bedspread, creating little circular wet translucent stains. "Away from all this!" A grand sweep of her hand as Bella tried to get her point across. "Away from the knowledge that vampires exist, away from the fact that this is where I was abducted and tortured, away from what I am." A harsh drawing in of breath cut off Bella's sudden passionate rant. When she regained her steam, the look of dogged resignation residing in her eyes had Alice forcibly stamping down the urge to run or cover her ears. "And yes." Bella's eyes resolutely refused to let go of Alice's gaze. "Yes. Away from you."

And there it was. The final blow. The last pounding of that metaphorical hammer straight through the core of Bella's world, sniffing out the last vestige of light, of hope, of life. Bella could almost see it flicker, attempting to relight but unable to find the source of energy it used to sustain itself. Like a damaged light bulb, it gave one last feeble spurt of light before dimming into darkness, forever unusable, broken.

Alice slid off the bed and walked to the window. Moonlight engulfed her petite frame, washing her in silvery-white light and making her skin almost translucent. This time the silence that crept back in was invited with open arms, a willing and welcome spectator to what was transpiring in the room. "Where will you go?" Alice repeated the question, her voice soft, ethereal almost. She turned molten gold eyes onto Bella, the piercing look combined with the backdrop of moonlight almost making her eyes glow.

Bella looked back at Alice through a blurry curtain of tears. Her face was pinched, a gauntlet of emotions stampeding across her face in rapid succession, each vying for dominance and attention. Bella had come this far. She had driven the nails in her coffin, made her bed. Now all she could do was lie in it. "Anywhere but here," she said again, voice hoarse with sorrow and regret. She held out a hand, and waited until Alice came back to her, came to take the proffered hand, framing it with her own with such careful tenderness that it broke Bella's already broken heart. This time when her eyes sought out Alice's, the inevitable and palpable sadness gleaming from the vampire's face no doubt was facing its twin on Bella's own face. The brunette looked at their entwined hands, really looked, for she wanted to commit the image to memory. Finally, she brought them up to her lips and placed one irrevocable kiss on Alice's knuckles, her hot tears anointing Alice's cold skin.

"Anywhere but here."

THE END

**A/N** – No, I'm really not kidding. This is the end. Obviously, it's not the happy ending people were gunning for but when I started this story, this was the ending I had in mind. Now before anybody starts throwing virtual rocks and stones at me, I might be inclined to do a sequel. BUT, only if there's interest. Cheers and thanks to everybody who has kept up with the story and left reviews.


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